Something Wicked comes this Way
by Ryuosen
Summary: As Naruto discovers his abilities and himself, Iruka plunges deeper and deeper into a tangled web of lies and conspiracies that threaten the peace and safety of every person the chuunin ever cared about. Will they prevail or inevitably loose themselves.
1. still not a shinobi

Something Wicked comes this Way

**Author: **Ryuosen  
**Chapters: **1/30  
**Words:** ca. 12000+  
**Rating:** PG15 for violence  
**Characters:** Iruka, Naruto, Sandaime Hokage, ANBU**  
Fandom:** Naruto  
**Pairing: **Kakairu or Irukaka claimed at **30kisses**, others not decided  
**Theme: **#01 look over here  
**Warnings:** spoilers for entire series just to be safe, violence and blood  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto otherwise I would be rich and Kakairu would be canon

**Summary:  
**A botched exam, a desperate student, a stolen scroll, a devious traitor, an overly strict teacher - and suddenly Naruto finds himself on a pilgrimage of self-discovery, maturing and growing of his own making.

_  
_"talking"  
_thoughts, letters.._

Final annoying author's note_  
_This story is a birthday present for my friend Noir and should be finished some time before December the 2nd of this year, cause that's her birthday.. considering that I still haven't learned how to write short stories, we'll see how far I will have come until the deadline..  
It's also my first Naruto story, I figure I will see how well it goes. Reviews and critics are welcome, as long as they are reasonable. Please do not write me reviews telling me for example: Oh NO you should have made Kakashi seme or whatever, I will ignore it, because frankly this is my story if you don't like it, either don't read it or write your own story!!  
As already stated above there will Yaoi/Slash/Shonen Ai whatever you call it, while it's not the main focus of the story it will play an important role, concerning the character development of Iruka and Kakashi. It will also be the only pairing. All other characters, when they are paired off, will be Het.  
If you **don't like the thought of two boys together**, then either ignore it or **don't **read the story, thank you!!  
Questions will be answered in the next chapter or in my journal at lj.

I think that it all, I hope you will enjoy the story...

Ryuosen

Word explanation  
Inu - jap. Dog  
Same - jap. Shark  
Ryuu - jap. Dragon

* * *

_Prologue__ still __**not**__ a shinobi_

The scent was the first thing he became aware of... coppery and heavy…

Blood…

The metallic taste lingered on his tongue and drifted through the air around him, mixed with traces of cleaning products and herbs. He was in a hospital, of that he was sure. But why was he h...?

He couldn't remember… what happened?

It had been graduation day and the genin exam was finished, out of 27 students 26 had passed and Naruto had... Naruto had failed... of course, he had failed and then Mizuki had tried to use the young blond to gain hold of the forbidden scroll. He had found Naruto after he had learned a jutsu. Then Mizuki had confronted them and revealed the secret about the Kyuubi, which had led to a fight. Consequences for Mizuki had been that he had been beaten by a boy not even a genin.

And he? He had taken one of Mizuki's shuriken to the spine, which was the reason he was here in hospital. Not really a surprise, one did not take a shuriken to the spine and walked away unscathed, especially not one of Mizuki's grand shuriken. The chuunin was after all an expert concerning their handling.

Keeping his eyes closed and breathing calm he tried to assess the situation, Konoha hospital or not, a good ninja always analysed his surroundings before acting.

There was the steady beeping sound coming from the heart rate monitor along with his own rhythmic breathing, except that there was no other noise. He could sense faint presences outside of his room but none was anywhere near him. Feigning a sleepy movement he tilted the head to check the room by opening his eyes a bit.

He knew the room; it was the same he always occupied when he was injured. There were the blank white walls, the small closet, the table with two chairs and a second door that led to the bathroom. Only one detail was not normal, on the table stood a vase with a bouquet of flowers.

_"Hokage-sama has already been here to see me..."_

Sitting up, he swung his legs over the edge of the bed, pushing the blankets aside while doing so. He suppressed a shudder as his feet touched the cold floor. Wit slow and controlled movements he stood, testing the strength of his legs. Feeling no pain, he assumed that a medic-nin had taken care of the wounds left behind by the kunai. With careful steps he walked over to the table and sat on one of the chairs, stretching his shaky legs while one hand took the small scroll that had been hidden between the stems.

Studying the seal a few seconds, he pricked his thumb on one of thorns of a pale pink rose and smeared his blood over the seal. A small glow and the scroll opened. After reading the contents, he used a small Kanton jutsu and set it on fire, leaving nothing but ash. Suppressing a wince he laid a hand over his heart that had been a bad idea. Taking a deep calming breath he let the tension flow from his body.

Standing he grabbed the clothes, which had been placed on the nightstand next to his bed. But before he had the chance to change out of his hospital gown, he sensed a presence nearing his room. Quickly he dropped the bundle and climbed back into bed, closing his eyes and pretended to be asleep.

The door opened and closed. Steps came closer and stood in front of his bed. An old wrinkled hand pushed the brown strands of hair away, before gently caressing his face.

"Iruka… aren't you a bit old for this? Pretending to be asleep?"

Knowing that he couldn't fool the old man, Iruka opened his eyes. Smiling slightly he tried to sit up, but stopped his attempt as sharp pain cursed through his body. Grimacing he eased back onto the mattress... apparently the painkillers had worn off?

"I was about to dress and come to you to give my report."

The old man tilted his head in a somewhat curious gesture, one grey eyebrow lifting.

"Hmm, so you've read the scroll? Don't bother with it, the report is late anyway. The medic-nin gave you a stronger dose of painkillers than I expected. You were out for more than a day."

His hands folded over the head of his wooden cane. For once he didn't wear the robe that not only proclaimed him to be the strongest ninja of this village but also it's leader. Studying Iruka's somewhat disbelieving face he continued unperturbed.

"I watched most of the confrontation and then monitored Naruto's movements. However I'm curious as to what occurred between you and Mizuki before you arrived at the clearing, where Naruto had hidden."

"Monitored? The seal?!"

The old man nodded his head again before pulling one of the chairs close to the bed and sat down.

"Naruto's will is as important to the maintenance of the seal as the symbols Yondaime used. It will only work properly if both are in a good condition. Had his will to live failed, the seal might have been broken."

"I see. But there is no danger..."

Iruka trailed off, unsure if his actions had been the correct ones. Looking back he couldn't remember seeing anger in the face of his student. Only disappointment, but that was to be expected.

"No, Naruto's will is now stronger than before. But now I would like to hear about Mizuki from you."

"Hai, Hokage-same."

* * *

_+the evening after the failed exam+  
_  
The night held something dark and foreboding, seeming as if something terrible was about to take place soon. At least that was what the scarred chuunin thought, as he tilted his head back. His gaze had travelled from the dreary ceiling of his apartment to the clear night sky, which was illuminated by thousands of stars and the full moon. Not that he was really seeing them.

His mind was still on the graduation exam, which had taken place today and the singly student, who had failed. Lamenting Iruka supposed that he should be overjoyed, only one failed student. 26 out of a group of 27, the academy hadn't had such good results in years. Still, he couldn't bring himself to be happy, not when it was Naruto, who hadn't passed the exam. Not to forget the extra paper work. 26 students meant eight three-man cells and one with only two students. He would have to check the lists of the older genin teams, too. It was unacceptable to leave rookie genin in a two-man team.

Why had Naruto not passed?

Iruka couldn't understand it. True, Naruto missed classes often and yes he barely paid attention, when he actually attended but that only explained the abysmal written performances the boy showed, but it shouldn't influence the practical ones. Simply for the reason, that not only had Naruto attended every single lesson on ninjutsu; he had checked the class roster to make sure, but also practised in his free time. He had seen it with his own eyes. So why?

Why couldn't Naruto produce a simple Bushin?

While there had always been the occasional student who had trouble performing ninjutsu, there had also always been an explanation. For example because of too small chakra reserves or worse underdeveloped coils, like the case of Rock Lee, a student that had graduated the year prior.

Naruto though, didn't suffer from underdeveloped chakra coils or too small chakra reserves. On the contrary the blond loudmouth had to have the largest reserves he had ever seen in an academy student and while he never had the dubious 'honour' of teaching a genius like the infamous Uchiha Itachi or Hatake Kakashi, he knew that neither of them had had such reserves at this age. Why, simple because Naruto's reserves appeared to be nearly infinite in terms of size and potency.

Sure, he was no Hyuuga, he couldn't see the coils due to a genkei kekkai, but he still had eyes and other senses. Naruto's chakra was visible when he tried to perform a jutsu, something he had never seen another do and you had to be a very measly shinobi to not feel the energy that crackled along your skin when Naruto used chakra. So why couldn't he do it?

On some level Iruka was surprised at the depth of his feelings for Naruto. The blond goofball was after all not the first student he had failed and he probably wouldn't be the last one either. Perhaps it was because of their shared traits, because Naruto reminded him of himself. Of a young lonely boy, who wanted nothing more than a bit of attention and both used pranks to gain just that.

Iruka sighed in frustration as he noted that it was unlikely that the stars were going to give him an answer. Sometimes he wished that the Hokage hadn't assigned him to the academy, had never spoken with him about the case of Uzumaki Naruto, the container of the Kyuubi. But he had and Iruka knew why, he had seen it after all.

Suppressing another sigh, he pushed the thoughts and memories of the Kyuubi attack back. It had been twelve years, but the pain was still as raw as it had been the moment he knew that his parents were not going to come back.

The sound of someone knocking at his door interrupted his reminiscing. Getting up, he adjusted his hitai-ate and crossed his apartment towards the door. Opening it he was surprised to see Mizuki standing on his doorstep, still dressed in his flak vest and with an expression of panic on his face, or something close to it.

What could his colleague want? They had no contact outside of the academy...?

"Mizuki-sensei..."

The teacher seemed clearly agitated and Iruka frowned. Normally the older chuunin was very calm and relaxed, he often had an open ear for the people with problems and did his best to help them, so what had happened?

"Naruto took the forbidden scroll. Probably as a joke! The Hokage called for us!"

Without speaking Iruka nodded and turned inside to grab the vest and his sandals. He slipped both on before looking the door. Mizuki had already jumped onto the rooftop of the house across from his own. Making sure that the door was really locked, he followed the senior. Iruka's apartment building was within a 15 minute walking distance and travelling over the rooftops of Konoha it took even less time. But it was enough time for Iruka to mull over the information Mizuki had provided him with. Something about the situation was definitely off...

If Naruto had really taken one of the scrolls, why would he have chosen the forbidden scroll of all things? Iruka doubted that Naruto knew of the importance or danger the scroll entailed. Besides the scroll in question was stored in the Hokage library and you had to go through the Hokage's rooms to gain access. It just didn't make sense, he knew that Naruto enjoyed challenges, but normally only played pranks with minimal risk involved. And had he gotten the information to infiltrate the tower in the first place? To know the comings and goings in the Hokage's tower intimately you would have to stake out the place for months: Iruka would know; it had taken six months for him to learn enough to successfully break into the tower without being caught.

Iruka was sure he was missing something important, but before he could pursue the thread of thought, they reached the entrance to the Hokage's tower. Jumping down they joined the already gathered chuunin. In front of the massive doors was the Hokage. The old ninja was busy fending off exclamations and screams for retribution. Iruka hid his scowl at some of the contents and made it a point to keep his infamous temper in check. It wouldn't do well for the Hokage to suddenly miss a few chuunin, it wouldn't do at all.

Listening to the instructions he and Mizuki, who now also wore his hitai-ate, separated. The orders were short, basically consisting of finding Naruto and bringing him and the scroll back. With one last glance at the Hokage Iruka jumped onto one of the roofs and sped away. His mind already mapping Naruto's favourite hiding places as well as shortcuts on how to get there as fast as he could, but despite knowing them all the pre-genin remained elusive.

With a sigh he left the roofs and landed on an empty road. Looking for other places he had yet to search. No messenger bird had been sighted so far, a sign that Naruto still had not been found. It made Iruka glad and edgy at the same time, glad because he knew that the other chuunin wouldn't exactly be gently with him, they made no move to hide the contempt they felt for the Kyuubi container and edgy because it meant that Naruto was still missing.

_"The woods, of course... I should check there too..."_

Turning around he jumped onto a roof once more and ran into the direction of the Hokage mountain. The woods were waiting.

It was only a short distance form the mountain but the Konoha woods were wide and covered more than thrice the ground that the actual village did. Alone 20 training grounds were scattered among the trees. Most of them used by jounin or upper chuunin as not everything living in the forest were harmless. Gigantic mammals were only one of many dangers. Iruka knew it would take days to cover the complete area and considering that he was currently on his own and reluctant to tell his colleagues Naruto's potential hideaway, he could forget that idea.

But he could skim over the inner rims which bordered the village; he knew there were a few huts in running distance, built for the purpose of resting and refreshing during training trips inside the forest. Jounin-sensei and their genin-teams using them most, during preparations for exams and training missions. He knew that only about two miles away was one of these huts. He knew enough about Naruto and the situation to seriously consider checking up on the hut. Naruto had stamina that outlasted chuunin. It would be no problem for him to reach the hut and it had been more than half a day since the boy had gone missing. Yes he definitely should check it out.

Steering a bit to the left, he corrected his course before leaping from roof to branch. Without a hitch he landed and continued like he just hadn't made a 14 foot jump, without the enhancement of chakra mind you. He needed to hurry, because it had been more than half a day, then there the danger of the jutsu listed inside the scroll and not to forget that it was Naruto who had the scroll. The curious nature of the genin and his ability to attract trouble wherever he went was enough to guarantee surprises and as most shinobi Iruka despised surprises.

Few minutes later the woods grew thinner and a small clearing could be seen. Along with a small hut. Leaving the branches Iruka now preferred to travel on the ground; it gave him a better visual range.

"Gotcha!"

True to his predictions there was a small orange clad figure on the ground. Against the browns and greens of the background the boy's jumpsuit was like a lit torch, burning merrily. Iruka slowed his pace, steps becoming silent as he prepared to thoroughly lecture the boy. Iruka stood right before the boy; anger cursing through his veins at the thought of the dozen of ways Naruto could have hurt himself, took a deep breath, but only managed only a few anger laced words.

"NARUTO!!"

Distantly noting that Naruto's entire jumpsuit along with the face was caked with dirt and leafs. Sweat glistened in the blond strands and had undoubtedly run down his face as well. What had Naruto done here? It took a rigorous workout training regime worthy of a jounin to push the boy to this point of exhaustion. His recovery rate was abnormal to say the least.

"Ne, Iruka-sensei… you found me..."

As Naruto had always been good at stating the obvious, Iruka snapped. The boy would get a tirade and dose of him at his worst, the amount of worry he had felt the whole time couldn't be counted. Yet seeing the blonde's rueful smile Iruka knew he couldn't be angry with him. Once again noting the ruffled appearance and exhaustion he called Naruto on it.

"What happened to you?"

Naruto ignored his question instead rambling about learning only one jutsu. Iruka felt his sense tingle, something or someone was coming closer. But what or who, he hoped it was not one of the gigantic tigers; he was in no mood to save both their asses against one of the cats.

"So I'm gonna do this awesome jutsu, and then I'll pass the graduation exam, right?"

_"Does this mean he was here to practise a jutsu from the forbidden scroll?! To the point of exhaustion? Still how did he know about the scroll?"_

"Naruto, how'd you get the scroll?"

The blond glanced at the big roll of paper, currently strapped on his back, before scratching his head somewhat embarrassed.

"Why? Mizuki-sensei told me about it along with the place too. Said that I would pass as long as I learned one of the jutsu from the scroll..."

Now there was uncertainty in his voice, unsure about the information provided by Mizuki, because how could Iruka-sensei not know about it? Meanwhile Iruka was busy making conclusions of his own. Mizuki had told Naruto about the scroll, most likely on how to get it as well. Then there was this place, far away from general population and pretty secluded. Oh dear god...

_"Mizuki is the traitor we have been looking for..."_

Just in that moment Iruka felt air caress his skin and he reacted immediately. His hand pushed forward and connected with Naruto's chest pushing him aside and out of range of the incoming projectiles. Twisting Iruka suppressed a wince as a good deal of kunai hit him. Not for the first time in his life he was thankful for the vest he wore. Only few had actually pierced his skin. There was one in his left thigh, two in the right leg, one had hit the upper portion of his left arm and the last ones were stuck in his vest only the tips poking into his skin as he moved. A coppery taste filled his mouth; he must have bitten his tongue.

"So that's how it is…"

Iruka's voice trailed off as he watched Mizuki, who perched on one of the thick branches of one of the trees surrounding the clearing. Mizuki had told Naruto how to get the scroll and then lured him here to get the scroll for himself, all under the disguise of getting Naruto to actually pass the genin exam?! Naruto needed to leave now. He had to take the scroll and alert the Hokage.

Sadly Naruto seemed to be totally clueless what this situation actually meant. His head was turning from Iruka to Mizuki and back, making no move at all and not for the first time Iruka want to gut a few teachers and villagers for nearly destroying a promising shinobi like the blond goofball. He knew Naruto was intelligent enough, not a genius like Shikamaru or others, but there was a brain and a surprisingly perceptive mind, when Naruto actually used it. Unfortunately for them both, he rather seemed to express his ignorance through anger.

"Naruto give me the scroll!"

Mizuki was ignored while the blonde demanded to know what was going on. Iruka could do nothing but tell Naruto to run and not give the scroll to the damn traitor, pulling kunai from his arm and leg while doing so. Perhaps an explanation on why Mizuki should not get the scroll would help as well, but still Naruto made no move at all, only standing there. Though Iruka could see that the blonde pre-genin had realised that Mizuki had used him for his own gains. The balled fists and shaking frame conveyed it quite clearly.

What Mizuki said next terrified Iruka! Having no idea how the seal worked he didn't know if there was a danger of the seal breaking. He had to get the traitor to stop talking, but it was not enough. Helpless like a little child he watched as Mizuki broke one of the most guarded secrets of the village. Even worse he involved Iruka as well, by accusing Naruto of killing his, Iruka's parents.

It dredged up memories of loneliness and isolation that Iruka hadn't felt in a long time. Growling he ripped the last stuck kunai out and Iruka readied himself to attack Mizuki, who had taken one of his grand shuriken from his back and was already spinning it, way unfortunately still talking. Ignoring the words of the traitor Iruka reacted. He knew from colleagues and Hokage himself that the pale haired man was an expert regarding the use of grand shuriken, the only one in the village, and his accuracy was honed from training children everyday. Not to forget that Naruto had yet to get over the revelations, his stress levels caused his chakra to fluctuate. The blue energy waves visibly floating around his body in an eradicate manner.

Iruka was unwillingly remembering the first discussion he had with the Hokage concerning Uzumaki Naruto. The words vibrating through his mind and body as he moved faster than one could see. All he was aware of were the words and the little vibrations caused by the thrown shuriken. His body was pushed forward as he stretched his arms to brace himself above Naruto, his back already twisting to reduce the damage the weapon would cause on impact.

A sickening sound echoed through the clearing as one of the pointed ends of the shuriken broke through the flak vest and skin. Iruka himself made barely any sound at all, the emotions and memories Mizuki had invoked in him still leaving no room for anything else. He was surprised to find that he was crying and it was not because of the pain, he barely felt the shuriken. No he cried for Naruto and himself. It was also the reason why he confided in Naruto about his own childhood and the loneliness he had felt at first. After that Naruto ran off, the scroll still strapped to his back.

Iruka watched as Naruto fled the shock still visible on his young expressive face. Mizuki and he were all that was left in the clearing. The traitor now landing on the ground a few feet behind Iruka, who had in the meantime gripped the grand shuriken still embedded in his back. Trying to suppress the pained sound, he pulled and with a squishing noise ripped it out. Ignoring the warm liquid pouring down his back and soaking his uniform, he turned to face his former colleague.

Mizuki watched the whole situation without any concern and to Iruka it was clear that injured as he was, the pale haired man didn't regard him as a threat, probably more like collateral damage. Panting he stood and watched his opponent. Defending Naruto with words was not enough, it was time to act. Gripping the last kunai, which had been stuck in the right thigh, he yanked it out and threw it with the accuracy of someone, who handled weapons everyday, but as expected Mizuki dodged.

The older chuunin was after all, a teacher as well and dodged projectiles on a daily basis. But Iruka had expected the reaction as the one he had performed only seconds ago, blocking the kunai with his last grand shuriken. It gave him enough time to react. Pulling a kunai from his pouch, he rushed at his enemy, body crouching low to sweep the traitor off his feet. The older chuunin was prepared as well; jumping backwards he again landed on one of the branches. The hands formed seals and the sequence already told Iruka everything he needed to know.

Fingers slipped into familiar forms and chakra flew under his skin. As soon as the last seal was finished he threw himself aside. Coming to his feet again he lifted his hands just as Mizuki finished his own sequence of seals. A torrent of water shot from the air as the older man blew a fireball at him. Steam rose as the Kanton was extinguished and Iruka used the few moments to jump onto one of the branches as well. Slowing his breathing down the chuunin concealed his presence as best as he could from Mizuki.

As soon as the brunet was sure, that Mizuki wouldn't find him once the steam vanished, he formed a seal while fishing for one of the previously stashed kunai. As soon as the jutsu was finished water appeared out of thin air and formed a mizu clone. Satisfied Iruka gripped the kunai tighter and vanished onto another branch above his water image.

Then the steam was gone and his clone left behind with the man he had once called a colleague. The traitor was already launching another jutsu, Kanton at the clone, who dived out of the way and onto the ground. Keeping his attention on Mizuki Iruka crept closer and closer to the spot, where the older man stood. He was nearly above him, only a few moments more. As long as the pale haired man stayed where he was, everything was just fine. Another seal and a second clone morphed into existence, now Iruka was ready to spring his own trap.

Mizuki would regret betraying the village and attacking Naruto, Iruka would see to that.

Tilting his head, the second clone dropped down and landed almost soundlessly behind the other shinobi and as commanded kicked him in the back before his adversary had the chance to realise what was going on. Unfortunately Mizuki was one of the best chuunin the village had to offer and he of course sensed the presence of the clone and twisted away at last moment's notice.

Luckily Iruka had calculated that Mizuki might evade the attack and it was of no consequence for his trap as the clone on the ground threw kunai with pinpoint accuracy. The second was destroyed few seconds beforehand as the older man slashed his clone's throat. The water dripped down the branches by the former sensei's feet as Iruka finally made his move. Without as much as creating a wind the younger man jumped upwards, flipped forward and extended his leg while doing so.

This time Mizuki couldn't block. Iruka's heel connected and the chuunin put his whole weight on his enemy's back. The wiry body of the older shinobi was pressed down as the branch snapped like a twig under the power of the sensei's kick. Landing on a thick branch couldn't be pleasant and judging by the pained coughing Iruka guessed that it wasn't. Besides he had experienced firsthand how it felt to literally get the air squashed out of your lungs.

For him landing hadn't been a problem, having twisted his body away after the kick and now crouched smoothly, ready to evade or attack. But there was no time for relaxing, Mizuki, while still coughing, had already rolled over and was getting to his feet.

_How odd, the kick should have broken his spine... ah the shuriken…_

Iruka wanted to curse, because of his foolish mistake the man was still not in the land of death. The pre-genin instructor had forgotten that the older one still carried another of his grand shuriken and that one had protected the vulnerable spine. No wonder that he was still conscious.

Now Mizuki was eyeing him, and Iruka had the feeling that for once the senior took him quite serious. Something he had never done before. Most of the time he had seemed mild mannered and considerate, but he had never been able to shake the feeling that he was mocked with each and every sentence the man uttered. Mizuki had always been quite condescending and it had been known that he wanted nothing more than being promoted. Iruka knew why it had never happened. Mizuki was an excellent chuunin, but not jounin material. While his skills as well as his chakra reserves were good enough, he simply lacked the mindset to be one.  
The senior was still panting and he knew he could count himself lucky, that the final shuriken had shielded him. Because, whether he thought that Iruka was a wimp or not was irrelevant, fact was that the brunet was able to shatter slabs of stone with his feet and doing so without chakra enhancement. But that wasn't important now; no he needed to get distance between himself and his adversary. Otherwise he might loose the Kyuubi brat and chances rose that another shinobi of the search party would find him first.

He needed to get away.

The pale haired man acted immediately by throwing simultaneously a kunai to destroy the last mizu clone as well as a smoke grenade. The tool fell to the ground and exploded, leaving nothing but smoke behind. Iruka immediately used the hem of his shirt to cover his mouth and nose, without any success. He coughed and tears were starting to gather in his eyes. The last thing he saw was Mizuki, who was watching him with a smirk, as he vanished in a swirl of, leafs.

His hand flew through a series of seals and with the use of "Fuuton Daitoppa" the smoke was gone in a matter of seconds, but so was the traitor. He was alone. Standing up Iruka hissed, blood was still trailing down his back and had by now nearly soaked his shirt. The hems of his pants were already damp and the darker fluid glistened on his hand after he had touched his back.

Things needed to speed up before he lost too much blood. First he needed to take care of Mizuki, then Naruto had to be found and lastly securing the scroll.

So the former sensei first. Glancing onto the ground he noticed the broken branch. Smirking he used a kunai to cut it down to a decent size before lifting it. Making another seal, there was a "puff" and a small boy holding a thick scroll in his arms stood in the clearing.

Blue eyes gleamed unholy under the moonlight.

"Let the hunt begin!"

With a splashing noise the clearing was left empty. The hunt had begun and now the tables were turned because the predator had been turned into prey, although he didn't know it yet.

Silently he sprinted over the trees, his feet barely touching the branches, stealthily the blond crept closer and closer until he could see a figure in the distance. With another uncharacteristic grin that was more than a bit malicious, "Naruto" sped up. Finally he recognized his own hair and the grin widened. Mizuki really was predictable. A henge was genin level skill, but as Naruto's teacher he knew that the blond couldn't discern the illusion from the original yet, only practise would teach him that. A genius stroke, he had to give Mizuki that because by sticking to the easy skills, he did not only fool Naruto but also compensated chakra and that meant, that he was still able to fight should he encounter another shinobi.

But it was still predictable, that he would try to use him, Iruka, to gain possession of the scroll, easy skills or not. Silently the younger teacher thanked his lucky stars that his sensei had always emphasised psychology and espionage. Looking underneath the underneath, wasn't just an empty saying, no it was one of the most important rules of the shinobi trade. And as proven now, there were dozens of reasons for it.

Speeding up, he began to imitate Naruto's unusual way of running, while silently bypassing the other man. Iruka briefly sensed Naruto's presence up ahead, which meant that if he wanted to stop Mizuki from gaining the scroll, now would be the time to do so. Inconspicuously he slipped into Mizuki's viewing range. He hoped that his senior would confuse Naruto's presence ahead with his own.

"Naruto..!"

_Gotcha!_

Mizuki was really predictable. He really should have taken advanced psychology classes with him. Knowing your enemy was another basic skill that was just as important as seeing underneath the underneath. Slowing down a bit, Iruka waited until the chuunin had caught up with him. During this time he dropped his body into a flexible position, getting ready to attack as soon as he was close enough.

"Naruto! Give me the scroll, Mizuki will come after you..."

Not even trying to hide his expression the young blond attacked. Using his shoulder he slammed it into Mizuki's midsection, hitting two pressure points with enough force to knock the senior out, seconds after contact.

Figures that something went wrong, twisting away Iruka landed against the trunk of a tree. A pained hiss escaped him as his back made contact with the rough bark, before watching with something akin to disbelief as Mizuki, still in his Iruka Henge, turned to him. Then the pale haired man released the Henge.

"How did you know, that I was not Iruka..?"

Smiling darkly, Iruka released his disguise as well and watched gleefully as the traitor was left speechless. Moving only the slightest bit to get more comfortable his lips parted to reply. The brunet could already taste blood on his tongue; it seemed that the grand shuriken had done more damage that anticipated.

"I'm Iruka…."

Pushing the log away, he indulged Mizuki, who seemed rather anxious to reveal his grand plan while pondering on the apparent failure of his knockout move. Had he perhaps underestimated Mizuki? It appeared that way, this carelessness could cost him greatly, he needed a new plan.

Shifting he prepared himself for Mizuki's kiss of death as he defended Naruto against the accusations thrown in his face. Naturally the former sensei grew rather angry, Iruka had always been good at getting people riled up, pulling the last grand shuriken from his back, he spun it and attacked the brown haired chuunin.

Back braced against the trunk, muscles tense, Iruka wanted to do something, even though it was most likely that he would be severely injured if not killed, but he had to make sure that Naruto was safe. Everything else didn't matter but the young blond had to survive, preferably with the scroll staying in the village.

But he before he could move, an orange clad blur shot out from behind a tree and knocked the older man off course. Standing in front of him was a battered Naruto, a battered angry Naruto. He could feel the killer intent leaking off the young boy and for once he was glad that he was not Mizuki right now, because the feeling of dread and malice was thick and suffocating. It reminded Iruka of the night years ago as the great monster had attacked their village and killed everything in sight. He had never seen Naruto like this before.

"If you hurt Iruka-sensei... I will kill you!"

It was no threat, but a promise and Iruka had no trouble believing the younger boy, because his voice spoke of anger and fury as well, dark and spiteful. He really didn't want to be Mizuki right now. The traitor though just laughed and challenged him as if the threat was nothing; clearly he didn't know the Kyuubi container well.

But then Naruto did something that left even Iruka speechless. The blond boy formed one hand seal and performed the Kage Bushin no jutsu, a Kinjutsu which had killed men trice Naruto's age upon attempting it and yet his student had created hundreds of clones, enough to fill the whole clearing without being winded let alone dieing of chakra exhaustion. Just how much chakra did Naruto have?

He wasn't the only one shocked though, the older man didn't move nor did he react to Naruto's taunt, which the blond decided was the signal to make the first move himself. Then all Iruka could see was orange as hundreds of clones closed in on Mizuki and began to beat him senseless. The pitiful screams droned out any other sound in the forest.

Only as Mizuki was bleeding and unconscious on the ground did Naruto stop, seemingly embarrassed by his actions. The jutsu was released and the hundreds of copies vanished with a small puff. Iruka sat and couldn't help himself, he smiled. Naruto would make a great shinobi once he graduated.

"Ha... I overdid it…?"

"Not at all, thank you for saving me…"

".. No one's threats my precious people!!"

"Naruto, come here..."

Iruka noticed how wary the boy really was and simply hugged him as he was close enough. He could feel the small frame stiffen, it was so obvious that Naruto wasn't used to affections of any kind. His heart ached at the knowledge and his own helplessness; he wished he could have done more for the tiny legacy that the Yondaime had left them, much more.

"How about a bowl of ramen tomorrow? My treat."

Naruto's cry of joy was enough. Ignoring the pain he tightened his grip on the boy. The future looked much brighter now.

* * *

_+back in Iruka's room+_

The Hokage regarded the chuunin after he had finished his tale, hands folded and seemingly deep in thought. Iruka kept quiet, knowing that the old man would address him once he had come to a conclusion. With careful movements he finally sat up, a dull throbbing feeling in his back, but that could be ignored. Pain was just that: pain. A signal to tell his brain that his body needed rest.

"You didn't pass him."

If the Hokage's question surprised Iruka, the chuunin didn't show it. Instead he pushed his legs over the edge so that he could face his leader, who was like a grandfather to him.

"No, I didn't."

"Why not? He defeated a chuunin, one of our best! Not many pre-genin could have done that, besides there is also the Kinjutsu he mastered."

"Exactly, I'm well aware that what Naruto did is nearly unbelievable, next to impossible even. But it's precisely my point. Out of all my students only Naruto could do it. If Mizuki had chosen anyone else, they would have been dead the second they attempted the jutsu. Long before either myself or Mizuki could have interfered. Naruto's chakra reserves are greater than the ones of many jounin and adults trice his age, it's the only reason why he is still alive."

Now Iruka felt emotions creeping into his voice, the passion making itself known. He would defend his students, even from the Hokage. That was after all his duty.

"The Kage Bushin is one of the most difficult jutsu, we both know that, but I cannot pass one of my students on the grounds of learning a jutsu that the others cannot hope to replicate, not in the genin exam. And even if I wanted to, the village council and both your advisors are wary of Naruto. They might think that I'm playing favourites, my position is risky as it is!"

_I should not have shown so much support, but who else would do it?_

The older man had been silent during Iruka's rather passionate speech. He had listened to the arguments the brunet made and he hated to admit it, but his friend had a point. As a teacher he was only allowed to pass performances inside his classroom and considering Naruto's infamous status in the village, everyone probably already knew that he had failed the exam. He had heard the adults talking about it.

Not to mention Iruka's shaky standing with the council and his advisors. He knew that Homura and Koharu only did what they thought was best for the village, but at the same time he couldn't help but think that they were overly harsh with Naruto and Iruka. Especially Naruto who wasn't even responsible for his fate. Iruka, Iruka was another story altogether, he could of course be held responsible for his actions; he had been a genin after all, an adult in the eyes of the village. There were times though when the past should be laid to rest, the younger man had been punished for his actions and would serve his sentence for the rest of his life. But that didn't mean that Iruka's fears were unfounded. The village council, made up from important villagers, wasn't always rational when it came to two of Konoha's scapegoats, even though Iruka was well liked by villagers and shinobi alike.

Turning his head he noticed that the chuunin was still waiting for his answer. With anyone else he might have felt embarrassed that he got lost in his thoughts but the brunet knew him well enough and stayed quiet.

"Your concerns are understandable and I agree; you shouldn't draw too much attention to yourself, especially the council's. It means that you cannot pass him, but I can and I will. He has earned his right to be a genin. I will accept no arguments from them in this case."

Nodding Iruka accepted the explanation, even though he still didn't agree with Naruto being a genin, because he was still lacking the basic skills, but he would not go against his leader's wishes.

"So I won't be staying at the academy any longer? I will go back to work at he mission desk fulltime?"

"Actually, I want you to stay at the academy one more year."

For once Iruka made no move to hide the surprise he felt. One of the dark brown eyebrows arched and vanished behind the loose strands of hair that fell into his face. Disbelief was written all over his face. Iruka wanted an explanation and he wanted it now! The Hokage complied.

"Ibiki has been tending to Mizuki since his capture and what he got so far, doesn't bode well for Konoha."

"Did he get something about his physical condition?"

The Hokage made something akin to a questioning noise as he studied his younger shinobi. Despite the age difference he trusted Iruka implicitly and therefore would take his concern seriously.

"Why are you asking?"

"I tried to knock him out using my two pressure point technique. Though all that happened was that he went down, no loss of conscious. It didn't even slow him down and no he only wore the standard chuunin vest, no armour."

"I know, his clothes were already examined, but they yielded no results. As you said, standard chuunin vest along with the uniform. Did you toy with him?"

"Only a little and not during the confrontation. My back injury hurt too much, I could barely move."

Now a worried expression appeared on the old wrinkled face, he hadn't expected that admission. He and Iruka had worked together for a long time and because of that he knew the chuunin as well as himself. Most people even the shinobi didn't know that the tanned man had once been a prankster, something which sometimes expressed itself in his fights, when he would initiate a game of cat and mouse, but only when he was confident in his victory. Iruka would never jeopardize a mission. Pinching his nose he wished for his pipe. Why couldn't it, for once, be easy?

"Iruka, I signed your discharging papers, I want you to go home. We will talk about this tonight, after you have rested more."

He nodded. Carefully just like before he set his bare feet on the ground and tested the strength of his legs before standing. Turning around he reached for the fastenings of his hospital gown and undid them. A wrinkled hand touched his shoulder and he shuddered at the coolness.

"Let me have a look..."

Fingers brushed down his back and Iruka didn't even try to suppress the pained sound as they slid over the bandages which covered his spine, where Mizuki's grand shuriken had struck home. The hands unfastened the wrapped cotton and he brunet watched detached as the bloodied fabric pooled at his feet. Just another scar to be added to his collection.

"It looks quite good; Iashi has done a fine job. The swelling is already going down, and the stitches have started to heal over. The chakra treats will probably be out in less than a week. However in lights of the recent events I find it more secure to have all of my shinobi on duty."

Goosebumps broke out all over his skin as he felt the tingling sensation of chakra being moulded behind his back. The cackling energy was pushed into his spine and surged through his coils soothing the agony that made every motion a challenge. Iruka sighed with relief.

"Get dressed and then go home. I expect you in my office tonight, the usual time."

With those final sentences the shinobi turned around and left, the door closing soundlessly. Nothing of his presence left behind with the exception of Iruka's now healed back. The chuunin stayed motionless for a few seconds before lifted the bandages from the ground, regarding the soiled fabric he threw them in the bin next to the bed before taking the clean ones which had been provided by the hospital. With practised movements he wrapped them around his chest even though his back was almost as good as new. It never hurt to be cautious after all.

Dressing in the provided clothes took only a few minutes, then he noticed that he had no hair tie, which in itself wasn't a big deal, but for Iruka alone that little detail was a message or rather an order.

_So_ _Hokage-sama wants no one to know about my premature release, but why?_

Shrugging he stepped into the bathroom to arrange his hair to his liking, while taking great care to disguise his features without the use of genjutsu or make-up. Whether or not he knew the reason was irrelevant, he would do as his leader wanted. With a sigh he pulled a few strands loose and moved them, so that his scar wouldn't draw as much attention as it usually did. Scars were nothing unusual for shinobi, but naturally they drew attention, when they were not concealed and Iruka's scar was not only very old but also eye catching. Stretching over the bridge of his nose like it did.

Evaluating himself in a mirror like some vain royal, he decided that he now looked like a proper civilian. Now came the hardest part, chakra disguise, because no matter how good the physical disguise without proper chakra masking you would be discovered anyway. Simply because someone who was trained to control chakra had a vastly different feel to them than a civilian, who might not even know what chakra was. Therefore his chakra had to be altered, which was no simple feat, but a difficult one which took both patience and endurance not to mention excellent chakra control.

Taking a deep breath he concentrated on the energy crawling through his body, normally placid and calm, ready to be used at his command. There it was, now for the hard part. Carefully he called on the energy and started mixing it inside his coils, creating an image that resembled an enraged ocean. The hardship lay in the ability to irritate the chakra enough that it no longer seemed trained to a shinobi but also could still be controlled and used. It was a thin balance, one that could be destroyed with one wrong move, which meant failure and in the worst case scenario death.

At last he suppressed the now wild and seemingly untamed energy, till it bore a striking resemblance to a civilian with greater chakra reserves. There were hundreds of those in the village. He wouldn't stand out among them; let alone getting a second glance.

Surveying the room one last time to make sure that he didn't forget anything, Iruka grabbed the flowers from the vase and opened the door. The corridor was empty and he couldn't sense anyone nearby. After one last glance he quickly left the ward, reserved especially for the Hokage. Two sets of stairs down and he reached the ward for the long term patients. Slipping inside he greeted the medic-nin, who was manning the desk, before asking her in quiet tones to put the flowers into the room of Mujitsu Ejiki. The medic-nin didn't even look up but nodded nonetheless.

"Mujitsu Ejiki... hmmm... comatose patient... been here for eleven years…."

Iruka turned around as the mumbling trailed off, she wasn't telling him anything he didn't already know and being reminded of the incident was too depressing, so he chose to leave. Again two sets of stairs und he left through the main entrance, none of the clinic personnel had paid attention to him, he was just another civilian visiting a loved one, just like it should be.

Seemingly without care he wandered through the streets and for once he wasn't greeted at every corner by parents who knew him or former students. He revealed in the anonymity and quiet, it was a rare occurrence. No, with his hair down and face mostly hidden by the brown traces he was virtually unrecognizable, at least on first glance. His behaviour was also uncharacteristic for a ninja, he left his back unguarded, muscles relaxed and for once didn't evade the oncoming villagers, who most of the time didn't even try to changer their path. The sensei stopped briefly at a dango shop to buy himself a small meal before going home. After being unconscious for nearly two days, Iruka was famished. Savouring the dango he made his way home. Quite a distance considering that Iruka lived near the Hokage's Tower and the hospital being in a secluded area near the mountains.

Thirty minutes later he reached the apartment block, where his home was also located. Drawing closer he was surprised to see a brown box along with two plants in front of his door? What the…? His hands reached instinctive for his kunai pouch only to discover that it was missing. Ah yes, he was still dressed in civilian clothes. Ignoring the box he unlocked the door. After securing his apartment, he hoisted the box up and carried it along with the two plants inside. Deposing both on the living room table, Iruka inspected the box. There wasn't anything unusual about it, just a plain brown box, filled with kami knows what.

But that would have to wait, Iruka decided. There were more important matters to take care of, the box would have to wait. Wandering inside his kitchen he immediately noticed that some of his things were out of place. It meant someone had been to his apartment during his absence and seeing that none of his rather lethal traps had been triggered the person obviously had a key. That trait narrowed the choice down to three people, one he could immediately exclude as the Sandaime had visited the hospital to see him.

Two options left, but who had been here. It was more likely to be Anko, she worked in the TI department after all and had probably heard about his injury from Ibiki, who was responsible for Mizuki's interrogation. While he was contemplating, his eyes were drawn to one of his ramen bowls, which he had placed next to the sink the evening Naruto had stolen the scroll. Wrinkling his nose he sighed, he really needed to do the dishes. It was only as he stood in front of the sink that he noticed the small note tucked underneath the bowl and he grinned.

Dumping the bowl in the now filled sink, he took the piece of paper and read the brief message. No even trying to hide the smile he felt as if a huge weight had been taken off his shoulders. Anko had been informed by Ibiki and had taken care of everything. It reassured him that some things were still the same, even after all that happened and in moments like this he regretted how everything had turned out. But some things just couldn't be taken back, no matter how much one wanted to. Pinching his nose he set the note back down, before shaking his head. It was no use dwelling on the past, it couldn't be changed anyway.

Besides that his stomach chose this very moment to gain his attention. Dango really weren't very filling as his stomach rumbled again, reminding him that more nutrition would be welcome. Iruka chose to ignore it for now as well, because he could hear the shower calling him. A nurse or medic-nin had probably given him a sponge bath after the fight, but it wasn't enough. Iruka longed for a nice hot shower and a nice hot shower he would get. Thus the chuunin hurriedly undressed, he really didn't like civilian clothes, felt vulnerable in them, but most shinobi did.

Leaving his clothes scattered through the apartment he entered the bathroom, finally a shower. It took more than 30 minutes before the brunet felt clean enough. After showering he slipped into a silver coloured yukata and proceeded to prepare a pack of instant ramen. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't eat them, but since Sandaime was still expecting him in a couple of hours, it would have to do. Wrinkling his nose, he calmly took a pair of chopsticks and ate the noodles, nothing topped freshly made ramen. Stopping he took the bowl and went into the living room, ignoring the squeaking floorboards as he did so.

Sitting down he propped his feet next to the two potted plants and the box. Hiding a grimace at the bland flavour, he hurriedly finished the meal, not really tasting it. Then the chuunin noticed a small envelope hidden between the folds of the box. Inspecting it, he dropped one of the chopsticks and coated the other with chakra. Now the noodles stuck to the wood and he disinterestedly continued to eat as he pulled the envelope out.

The name scrawled on the paper was his and Iruka immediately recognized the loopy and sloppy penmanship as Naruto's. It was always horrible to correct Naruto's written works, when the blond bothered to do them at all. Slurping the broth he opened the envelope, pulled a short letter out and began to read…

_"Hey Iruka-sensei…"_

* * *

___+two hours later after leaving the hospital+_

The Hokage had finally managed to catch up with his paperwork as he sensed a presence at his window. Seconds later one of his ANBU stood inside the room, having slid through the wall to gain access.

"I wish you would stop doing that, Same."

The ANBU shrugged and tilted the head, face still hidden by a white porcelain mask, before becoming serious. Assuming a formal stance as if to report. The voice was oddly muffled but the mask tended to do that as the shinobi spoke.

"Hokage-sama! Uzumaki Naruto has left the village…"

The ANBU didn't get to finish the sentence as the older man moved with a speed that was nearly unequalled. Hitting the wall with a smacking sound the warrior hissed as a hand closed around his neck, but made no move to defend himself.

"How did that happen? Ryuu was supposed to watch over him!"

The fury in the leader's voice was raw and the tone alone would have been enough to send most chuunin and jounin running, yet the elite shinobi merely attempted to shrug again, ignoring the danger that the hand around his neck entailed while doing so. The mask gave no emotions away, but the Hokage just knew that his trusted shinobi had to be smirking. Why? Simple, one moment he was holding the man up by his neck, the next moment the wall rippled like unruly water as his ANBU slid into stone like it was nothing.

Knowing that he had been overreacting, the strongest shinobi of the village simply let his hand fall back before turning around and taking his seat again. He offered no apologies as the ANBU appeared again right next to his desk, both knew that it wasn't necessary at all. Talking one last calming breath he started to question his shinobi. If Naruto had really left, then he needed the details first before making a plan of action, which most like entailed sending a search troop after him.

"When was his absence first noticed?"

"About 30 minutes ago Umino Iruka was seen at Uzumaki's apartment by Inu. He appeared to be in near panic. After questioning the chuunin Inu proceeded to check Uzumaki's apartment. It was empty as Umino had stated. To confirm the sensei's statements he also went to his house and checked if Uzumaki's possessions were really there. They were just as Umino had described. Inu then informed me. After getting her report I came immediately to inform you. Inu got this from Umino, it appears to be a letter written by Uzumaki Naruto."

The ANBU pulled a slightly wrinkled letter from behind his armour, unfolding it, he handed the paper covered with Naruto's messy strokes to his leader. After that the shinobi stepped back to await future orders. Sarutobi read the letter four times before he finally put the paper down, absentminded he pulled his pipe out and lit it with a small Kanton jutsu, the other man noted that he didn't form seals to do so.

Regarding the shinobi in front of his desk the Sandaime contemplated the next moves. The mask painted with the shark like features didn't offer him any advice, but the old man took comfort in the fact that he had men who he could depend upon. Same wore standard issued pants and a black muscle shirt along with, for once, the white armour. Unlike most ANBU he forwent the armguards, instead opting to wrap them with thick leather and fishnet.

"Same, I want you to go to the Inuzuka compound and retrieve Shinmyou. Track Uzumaki down and bring him back before he is harmed. But before you do that, send Inu in. I want her report as well."

Seconds later the ANBU was gone, just as quietly as he had arrived. The aged man sighed, his pipe had gone out too. He had made many mistakes where the Kyuubi container was concerned and it seemed the spiral couldn't be broken. Leaning back in his seat he faintly wondered, not for the first time, what would have been if Naruto had grown up in another village. Would Yondaime's legacy have been happy, away from the hateful glares shinobi and villagers gave him? Probably, he knew that Naruto often faked a laugh so that no one would see the frail soul hidden beneath the boisterous exterior. The blond was a convincing actor and had it not been for another child like him, he probably wouldn't have noticed at all. Because for all the jounin, who preached about looking 'underneath the underneath', few actually did.

Pinching his nose, he lit his pipe once more. His eyes were drawn to the small piece of paper, which was all that Naruto had left behind save for his possessions at Iruka's place. Were the reasons in the letter the only ones, or were there more? What had caused Naruto to leave the village? It didn't make sense.

While he agreed with Naruto on the issue concerning the teachers he didn't understand what the blond hoped to gain from leaving the village. Civilians couldn't teach him what he needed to graduate from the academy and foreign shinobi guarded their techniques with the eyes of a hawk. He just didn't understand but it was probably a moot point anyway. Same would bring Naruto back. His companion Shinmyou was after all one of the best trackers the Inuzuka clan had to offer.

Sarutobi would have like to send Kakashi but the jounin would take on a genin team in two days and there was no telling how far Naruto had come in the last three, having heard enough tales from the chuunin chasing the blond.

"Bring him back unharmed…"

His voice trailed off as someone knocked at his door, it was probably Inu. The young ANBU had been the one to find Iruka and had checked the apartment that made her report very valuable. They needed all the details even if Same was already on his way to retrieve the little runaway.

"Enter!"

The door opened and Inu entered. She was noticeably shorter than Same had been with a thinner willowy built. Her feminine figure couldn't be completely disguised by the armour she wore. She unlike Same had pulled her mask aside, revealing her face and her long hair. Stopping in front of the desk Inu bowed before resuming the formal stance required for giving a report.

"Hokage-sama called."

"I want a report on tonight's events. Tell me when you met Umino Iruka, what you talked about, which areas in the apartments did you check and for how long."

If Inu was irritated with the orders she didn't show it, instead she started her report in a slow clear voice. From time to time she stopped to clarify a point or answer a specific question, while the Hokage's mood steadily got worse. Every answer matched perfectly with the ones of Same and while he trusted the younger ANBU implicitly he had hoped for more clues.

"That is enough Inu, you may leave.."

The dark haired woman nodded and pulled her mask back in place before turning around. Her hand had already enclosed the handle as her leader spoke once more, but this time with a voice made of ice.

"Inu, please be so kind and tell Ryuu that he has an appointment with Ibiki tomorrow at three and if he isn't there he won't like the consequences."

The female ANBU couldn't quite suppress the shudder that ran through her, the fury hidden beneath that calm icy tone.. she didn't want the Hokage to be angry with her ever. As for Ryuu, he dug himself a hole as he had begun to shirk his duties by letting his personal feelings get involved. She herself had no love left for the Kyuubi child but she would never let her personal feeling affect her duty. It was bad enough hat most ANBU had tolerated that their senior did it.

Now there would be hell to pay and in the end the one who would suffer the most would be the container, because secrets stayed never hidden for long. And an ANBU getting 'questioned' because of the ''demon brat would make the rounds faster than some shinobi moved. She almost pitied the boy. Closing the door behind herself she was glad that she didn't feel the penetrating stare anymore. No the Hokage was definitely someone you angered.

The Hokage watched as Yuugao vanished; mask firmly in place. She was one of his bests ANBU but like many of her colleagues she was rather biased towards Naruto, having lost her father to the Kyuubi. But at least it had yet to impact on her duties, which was why he considered her as a silent shadow once Naruto came back. Of course only for the first few weeks, he didn't have that many shinobi to spare and high class missions were always coming in. They didn't have war, but death would always wait for someone.

Extinguishing his pipe he resolved to go to bed. There was nothing he could do now. One last check to see if everything was ready for tomorrow's schedule he activated the security. Distantly he noted that is should be updated in the next days. After all a boy not even a genin had managed to infiltrate the tower without getting caught and Mizuki had managed to acquire the necessary information, which led him to believe that something big was going on.

For one moment he pitied Same, once he returned from his A-ranked mission, the ANBU would have quite a bit of work cut out for him. Being the shinobi responsible for internal safety, information transfer and information restriction meant that the task of analysing Mizuki's confession would fall to him, if the traitor gave one, but he had full confidence in Ibiki and his skills. Like it or not Mizuki would spill the secrets he hid.

With one last glance he flicked the lights off.

* * *

+one hour and thirty minutes after leaving the hospital+

Iruka was frantic, his feet were carrying him over the roofs of Konoha without really thinking about it. In his hand he clutched the short letter Naruto had left him. The chuunin desperately hoped that the boy hadn't already left, the letter had been written during Naruto's preparations so there was a chance that he was still inside the village.

Passing another presence he noted with some surprise that the shinobi, most likely ANBU, was following him. Did he look worried enough for the elite to take notice? Probably, he was certainly looking like Orochimaru, he suppressed another wince at the thought of the former leaf nin, was chasing him.

Finally he reached Naruto's apartment. Jumping down he stood in front of the door, knocking nearly frantically on it. He listened closely, but no hyperactive blond opened and greeted him with an enthusiastic: "Iruka-sensei!"

Naruto was really gone. Balling his hand, he punched the door in frustration. A crunching noise and the wood splintered, leaving a fist sized hole in the door. Great, just great. He cursed under his breath, just what he needed. Another problem, quickly making a mental note to send someone to repair the door he looked around. Had Naruto even an idea, what awaited him outside the village's walls? The story about the Kyuubi and Konoha was known in the whole country, then there were nuke-nin not to mention other shinobi who wouldn't hesitate to gut Naruto and he wasn't talking about Iwa-nin, who would love to rip a carbon copy of the Yondaime apart. And as if that was not enough, there were the political matters to consider.

A young loudmouth pre-genin in another country? Which nation would believe that, they would think of Naruto as a spy and take his actions as means to declare war on Konoha. Kami only knew how long Iwa was already waiting for their chance to avenge their forces they lost in the last war to the Yellow Flash.

He had to inform the Hokage. Turning around, his decision was already made, as he came face to face with the presence that had been following him. It was indeed one of ANBU, Inu to be precise. The woman behind the mask was one year his junior but he recognized her by her presence anyways. She had graduated with him: Uzuki Yuugao. Officially Iruka had yet to deal with her, though he knew that she and Gekkou Hayate were dating. She was a skilled shinobi, which showed as she had been drifted into ANBU two years prior.

"ANBU-san?"

Inu stayed quiet, nothing betrayed her thoughts. Seconds passed before she actually came closer, but not close enough for him to reach her. Should the situation require it she would be able to defend herself as well as attack.

"Is everything alright Umino-sensei?"

There was a tiny mistake she had made, she had addressed him as sensei, and while he was fairly known among the jounin for manning the mission desk, his employment at the academy was mostly known to students and their jounin-sensei. ANBU though wouldn't know even though he frequently held meetings with the Hokage concerning the school. But it was a tiny slip, he didn't mention.

"Hai, it appears that Uzumaki Naruto has left the village!"

The "without permission" was left hanging between them. She tilted her head, probably thinking of her options and the next course of actions.

"Umino-sensei are you sure that that Uzumaki-san has left the village?"

Iruka nodded, more than a bit impatient. Every minute they wasted talking Naruto got farther away. Besides that he would normally snap at the imbecile questioning him about his students, but given that he wanted this to hurry up, he forwent it for once.

"I found his possessions in front of my door, he also left me this letter. I have yet to check other places he frequents such as Ichiraku ramen, but according to this letter it would seem that way."

Lifting his arm he showed the younger woman the letter, which was by now more than slightly crumpled. Suddenly the chuunin hissed, one hand going towards his shoulder. The ANBU started, before coming close enough to touch his shoulder briefly. She had probably heard about the disaster with Mizuki as well.

"I will take you home Umino-sensei. We were informed by Ibiki-sama about the incident with Mizuki. You shouldn't run around, you should be in hospital…"

"But.. the letter.. I have to inform Hokage-sama.."

Scratching his scar Iruka could feel the blush that spread over his face, what was it about him that made women want to mother him? Still he must look like a chastised child in front of the ANBU because the women gently and carefully wrapped her arm around his waist before performing the seals for shushin no jutsu. A chakra reaction and they were off.

They landed nearly silent in Iruka's apartment, which was another tiny mistake as the ANBU had never asked him where he lived, which again implied that she knew him and that was ultimately a small step to her identity. Yuugao wasted no time and immediately inspected the two plants and the box Naruto had left behind. Only after confirming that it were indeed Naruto's belongings did she turn to him.

"Umino-sensei you should rest. Please give me the letter, I will inform Hokage-sama."

Normally Iruka would have frowned and told her he could do it himself, which he did, but he held his tongue. Instead he opted for offering his former classmate the letter that had been left behind. He then made her promise to check the blonde's apartment beforehand, perhaps Naruto had been merely asleep and hadn't heard Iruka. And while he knew that the likelihood of that being true, were as high as the chances of Uchiha Itachi returning, he still wanted to hope.

"Of course Umino-sensei."

With another swirl of leaves the ANBU vanished and Iruka cursed. He hated the leaves left behind by the shushin no jutsu, now he could sweep the floor again, but before doing that there was business to take care of. Checking on last time to make sure that Yuugao had really left, he went into his bedroom passing another room, which was currently unoccupied. Smiling slightly Iruka knew that it would soon change again.

Entering the room he went straight for the closet, riffling through it until he found what he was looking for. Unzipping the standard vest he pulled the long sleeved shirt over his shoulders dropping it carelessly onto the floor before taking the new piece of clothing.

"Naruto, you better appreciate what I'm doing.."

* * *

prologue end


	2. Hit the road Jack!

Something Wicked comes this Way

**Author: **Ryuosen  
**Chapters: **2/30  
**Words:** ~ 26000+  
**Rating:** PG16 for violence and death  
**Characters:** Iruka, Naruto, Sakura, ANBU**  
Pairing: **Kakairu or Irukaka claimed at **30kisses**, others not decided  
**Theme: **# 24 good fight  
**Warnings:** spoilers for entire series just to be safe, violence and blood  
**Disclaimer:** Since Kakairu is still not canon, it's unlikely that I own it!!

**Summary:  
**A botched exam, a desperate student, a stolen scroll, a devious traitor, an overly strict teacher - and suddenly Naruto finds himself on a pilgrimage of self-discovery, maturing and growing of his own making.

_  
_"talking"  
_thoughts, letters.._

**Final annoying author's note**_**  
**_This story is a birthday present for my friend Noir and she enjoyed it so far, even though it's far from finished and her birthday's passed.  
Sorry for not updating earlier, but real life was being a real bitch!  
Thanks to the two, who reviewed: Mare and NekoDoodle, I'm glad to hear that you like it.  
Also thanks to the ones, who didn't review but still read it as well as putting the story on fav lists or alert.

I think that it all, I hope you will enjoy the story...

Ryuosen

Word explanation  
Teme - Naruto's insult for Sasuke, I think VIZ translated it to bastard  
oni - jpn. demon  
hime - jpn. princess  
Shannaro - Exclamation of Sakura's alter ego, usually indicates anger or displeasure  
Ohayo - jpn. Good morning  
kaa-san - jpn. Mother (polite form)  
mochi - jpn. Food, rice cake  
ume - jpn. Fruit, plum  
Tora - jpn. Tiger  
Hitsuji - jpn. Sheep  
Kawa no Kuni - River country  
Kaze no Kuni - Wind country  
Sunagakure - village hidden in the sand  
Iwagakure no sato - village hidden behind the rocks

* * *

_~previous chapter~_

_Entering the room he went straight for the closet, riffling through it until he found what he was looking for. Unzipping the standard vest he pulled the long sleeved shirt over his shoulders dropping it carelessly onto the floor before taking the new piece of clothing._

_"Naruto, you better appreciate what I'm doing.."_

* * *

Chapter 1 Hit the road Jack!

~~~two months after Mizuki's betrayal~~~

Patience had never been one of his strong points, the ability to remain motionless for hours with no end having been deemed useless years ago. The very same went for listening to lectures or paying attention during those lectures or demonstrations, which had been the reason why it had been such a pain in the ass to relearn those very useful traits. But he had learned those lessons again and discovered that, while he was no genius, he was no dope either. Take that teme!

If somebody had told him prior the past two months that he would not only learn patience, but also regard it as a valued skill, he would have laughed in the person's face and played quite a nasty prank on him or her. Although that would have been his answer two months ago, now he knew better. After all his world had been turned upside down in a span of those two months. He had simply changed, for the better. At least that was what he hoped.

Smiling slightly to himself he adjusted his grip on the scope and zoomed in on one of the lightened rooms, still empty as two hours ago. Suppressing a sigh he scratched his cheek, while he had learned to appreciate patience, he didn't enjoy waiting by any means. Adjusting his position to be more comfortable the young man got ready for another night of waiting.

It only took two more hours until something finally happened and damn it he had nearly reached his limits. The door to the room on the left opened and a man in a black clothes walked in. He was older than him but many were, probably In his twenties and handsome in a way with dark brown hair framing high cheekbones, dark green eyes and a straight nose. The man known as Muraki Takahito smiled, in way many women would probably find quite fetching. Something about him drew you, he could tell. A pity that he had to die, not today but at the end of the week his time was up. As of now he didn't have enough information to go in for the kill.

But he would be patient, he would gather the needed information and then he would make his move. Thus the reason for his visit tonight and why he hid in the top of a tree in the middle of the night: research. Keeping his senses sharp, he silently leaped onto another branch. The layout of the grounds and mansion needed to be committed to memory, as well as the positions and routes of the guards. Not to forget their shifts. In this line of business there was no room for sloppy work.

Muraki Takahito was a man with money and influence, a quite successful businessman and part of the inner council that advised the daimyo. Additionally he happened to be the must trusted advisor of Hi no Kuni. He was important and therefore well guarded.

Gazing at the man, who was unaware of the scrutiny, he reflected for a moment that his death would be a quite severe blow to the country in which he currently resided, but it would recover. It always had. There would be other advisors to take his place and frankly he didn't owe this country anything, nothing at all. He wasn't affiliated with Konohagakure and therefore only loyal to himself. Maybe one day he would swear loyalty, but not in the near future. He enjoyed this life too much to give it up.

He slipped onto the wall that barred anyone from entering the premises, well anyone who wasn't trained in the arts of using chakra or having a handy tool nearby. He noted the positions the guards held and which routes they patrolled. None of them appeared to be shinobi, as he felt no trained chakra. Appeared being the keyword, as there were dozens of ways to tame chakra, seal or alter it. But according to the previously gathered knowledge all of them were samurai. Swordfighters and other warriors, who had sworn their loyalty to the young merchant. A smart move on Muraki's side as they would never willingly divulge knowledge on their master. Shinobi on the other hand, could change sides in the blink of an eye. Even if it meant that they would become missing-nin.

He had once wanted to be one of them. Before failing for the third time, before he had finally understood what it meant to be a shinobi. Before that he had always tried so hard to please others, to be get attention, to be acknowledged. But now after discovering the joys of freedom and ultimately a life without worrying about the opinions of hateful villagers and scowling shinobi, who while not openly attacking, despised him just the same.

But as already stated, for now he didn't need to be concerned with it, his only concerns were learning of new jutsu, refining old ones, training and getting money. Eating and drinking was after all essential for a growing boy. Even if said growing boy looked like a teenage female at the moment. A teenage female dressed in a dark blue kimono, with a black obi tied around her waist. The broad obi making it possible for her to carry many useful items on her person. With their help and the new jutsu she had learned, work was easy most of the time.

It was always nice to learn new jutsu, even though it was quite a challenge to acquire them. Most shinobi didn't like it when someone copied their techniques, but that had yet to deter him. Just by simple observation he had managed to gain six new jutsu in the last three weeks. Of course after watching them he still had to experiment to see, just how much chakra he needed for the desired effect. Not to mention that the experimentation offered him ways to develop his own jutsu. .. well he still needed practise and experience, it would take time until his first jutsu was finished, but so far he was satisfied with the progress he was making. With the help of the Kage Bushin jutsu it took only a few days at most do master the observed arts. Iruka-sensei really should have proven his point as he had lectured about observation being an important skill for shinobi, for example by pointing out that you could learn jutsu just by observation.

He felt a small pang as his thoughts drifted towards his former sensei. The blond Kyuubi container missed the chuunin dearly. Iruka-sensei was one of the few people, who had always been nice to him. As far as he could remember the young man had never showed any signs of prejudice, despite having lost his parents to the monster locked inside of him and only now, looking back with eyes open he could appreciate the subtle manoeuvres his former teacher had executed to make his life a little easier. And if not for the debacle that was the night after the genin exam, he would never have noticed at all.

Mapping the grounds out and having finally noted all positions, he resolved to call it a night. The situation wasn't was bad as he had originally assumed, while the grounds were wide and heavily patrolled, none of the patrols appeared to be shinobi, which meant no jutsu. Samurai could be formidable opponents and he would be a fool to underestimate them, but they were not trained in the arts of the shinobi. No they mostly tended to rely on weapons like blades and hand-to-hand-combat, poison and trickery being the methods of the ninja.

All in all it meant that the assassination could take place as planned. Now it only had to stay that way, he would observe the mansion for a few more days, perhaps investigate possible escape routes as well. Hiding the scope inside the folds of the kimono he was currently wearing, the blond finished his round around the grounds. Without a trace Naruto vanished, none of the warriors even suspecting his presence.

Silently he arrived at the cheap inn he was staying at. No one paid attention to the blonde woman in the dark kimono, not even the dark green coloured umbrella drew their attention. The distance between the mansion and the inn wasn't exactly the longest, but it was enough to think about the gained information, but not deeply enough to loose focus of his surroundings. The building that housed the inn was old and the paint had already started to chip off, not that he took notice as he entered.

The clerk's eyes lightened up as "Minako" approached him. It was apparent to anyone with eyes that the old man fancied the much younger teen, who had rented a room two weeks prior. Immediately the older man fumbled with something behind his desk before lifting something up.

"A message for you Minako-san."

He offered her a non-descript envelope, his hand brushing along hers for longer than necessary, while shooting her a lecherous grin. Not that the blond teen took notice, far too interested in the contents of the envelope. Yet she simply stuffed the piece of paper into one of her wide sleeves, thanking the man briefly before turning around and going towards the stairs, completely ignoring the fact that the clerk stared at her ass.

The room Naruto currently lived in was on the second floor, which reflected the outside look of the building. The dark wooden entrance door was new and stood out against the cracked wall like his old orange jumpsuit against any kind of background. Sliding the key into the lock she opened the door, her senses concentrated on the chakra treats that had been woven in front of the window and the doors.

All of them were intact, no one had tried to enter the room. Good, that meant now she could turn his full attention to the envelope, but before that she needed a shower.

The envelope ended on the table as the young boy turned female teen entered the bathroom. The bath was like everything else in the inn: old, dingy and run-down. But for him it was enough as all facilities were still functioning and the door could be locked. Who cared about chipping paint and cracked tiles when all you did at the place was sleep and wash, certainly not him.

With quick and by now used motions he unwound the obi that had held the kimono in place, taking care to fold it just right as not to scatter the assortment of shuriken and kunai hidden between the folds onto the ground. Only as the long piece of fabric had been placed on a small surface, did he pull the kimono off revealing the maturing body of "Minako". Naruto grinned, he really made a damn fine woman.

Minako, as he had named the female disguise, was one hell of a specimen though nothing compared to his Oiroke no jutsu1 version. But as she was never meant to compare that was just fine with him. His anti-pervert jutsu was the illusion of a man's wet dream, while Minako was simply a beautiful growing teenager with long sun-kissed blond hair, held in a high tail, a heart-shaped face with big clear blue eyes, a small nose and full rosy lips. Her body was slim, even though appearing to be still in puberty, it lacked the hips that would make giving birth to a child easier with muscles hidden beneath tanned skin. Opposed to his perverted version Minako had a normally sized chest and no hourglass figure to seduce men, instead her stature was that of a fighter. Simply because, while he found it easy to blow kisses at perverts in his curvy form, fighting was uncomfortable as hell. Even bound his huge breasts got in the way. Having noticed very quickly that he was definitely no Tsunade, he had given his female disguise a shape that still identified her as female but was as close to a male's body as possible. It made fighting a whole lot easier.

Folding the kimono as well he stepped into the shower to get clean. Observation, while not exactly strenuous, was for the most part a dirtying activity, which often involved hiding in uncomfortable as well as filthy places. Naruto had indeed spent the last three days hiding in bushes, trees and a koi pond, of all things in order to observe his target unnoticed. He felt he was entitled to have a shower. It would be a wonderful experience after a hard day of work and only now in the safety of the shower, did he release the jutsu, that let him be female.

Shuddering he waited until the rest of the chakra had vanished before stepping under the spray. Minako's body was relatively comfortable to move and fight in, but nothing could beat the feeling of being yourself and in your own skin. Sadly the water was not as warm as he usually liked it, but considering the inn, he wouldn't complain. It wouldn't matter anyway, cheap places were often booked out and the blonde container knew that there were hundreds of others, who would rent the room without question and complaining about something mundane as the water temperature.

While he would have liked to linger longer, the envelope on the table drew his attention and effectively distracted him from enjoying the lukewarm water. So the boy left the cubicle, stepped onto a towel and dried himself hurriedly. Faintly he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and for a second he froze before the youthful face relaxed. After spending days in his female disguise, his own felt somewhat foreign, although it was probably because he had yet get used to the many faces and masks a shinobi had to wear.

He briefly compared his male face to the female on of his disguise. The eyes were the same shade with Minako's being larger and rounder shaped. The nose was a copy and fit in both the male and the female face. Minako's lips were fuller and darker than Naruto's, but his face slimmer with sharper cheekbones and a more pointed chin. The colouring of the skin and hair were the same. All in all Minako was a female version of Naruto while appearing older and more grown. His female version was also quite taller, a fact that was only slowly remedied. Years of malnutrition and wrong eating habits had consequences and the damn prisoner in his head couldn't fix everything.

Pulling a simple yukata from a surface next to the sink, he dressed hurriedly. With a small snap he closed the bathroom door and entered the main room. The table, where the blond had left the envelope on, stood next to the lone window with a rickety chair to the left. Then there was a dresser and a bed, whose mattress had already seen better days. The room was tidy with Naruto's few possessions neatly stuffed into a travelling scroll at the end of the bed. He was ready to leave anytime.

Another harsh lesson, being unorganized was a hindrance for any ninja, whether genin or ANBU. Simply because the second you needed to search for a scroll could be the one that cost you your life and damn he wasn't about to die because of such a foolish mistake.

Carefully he sat down on the chair, the old rickety thing looked like it would break any second, but it didn't so he ignored the ominous creaking sounds and took the envelope that had arrived during his scouting mission. He looked at it for a few seconds before letting it fall onto the surface again. The fact that it was a letter and not a scroll indicated that the person, who had sent him this, was a civilian since scrolls were only available to shinobi and to buy them you needed to have proof, the sign of belonging to a village or you knew where the black market was. No the potential client was definitely a civilian.

The envelope had a no notable sign and was blank save for his name that had been written on it, or rather Minako's name. Feeling the quality of the paper with his fingers, a lone eyebrow rose in question, it was not paper but actually thick parchment: High quality parchment as well as a very expensive ink stone, for he couldn't see any traces of dirt or non dissolved ink particles. Few people could afford such items, but his future client could and that spoke of his ability to pay the blond's services.

But first he needed to know what exactly he was supposed to do.

Gathering a tiny amount of the Kyuubi's chakra in his right, he waited until the burning sensation changed his hand. The changes weren't obvious, at least not when you didn't know what to look for, but he could see it clear as a day: The subtle rearrangement of his bones, the greater resemblance to a claw and the by now sharp nails. He found it fascinating to watch the effects the oni had on his body. The first time he had seen just how much the Kyuubi could influence him, the blond had been frightened but now he felt only fascinated.

Considering that the Kyuubi was in essence just spiritual chakra and remains of a demonic energy the effects were magnificent. By will alone the Kyuubi managed to change his very genetic make-up. It was damn near unbelievable, but true all the same. Not that is was important right now, but a potential job offer was.

Slipping the elongated nail into the parchment he ripped it open. There was a single sheet of parchment inside, again with the elegant strokes on it. The letter was addressed to Mina, which were the first two syllables of his assumed name. Browsing over the short letter and the request his eyebrows rose. It was no small task that was asked of him and would at least take three weeks to complete.

A guardian job.

It sounded interesting and the payment was more than acceptable. Sadly details on the job itself were sparse and he didn't know against whom he would protect his client. He needed to accept the offer first to get more information and that was dangerous. He would have to do research on the hime before making a decision. Luckily he had a few days before he needed to reply, so it could wait a little.

Besides first he needed sleep, the last days had been draining and he would be able to think far clearer after a good rest. Folding the parchment he stuffed it back into the envelope and shoved the letter underneath his pillow before sliding under the sheets. Wiggling until he was comfortable his head formed one last rare thought before his mind drifted away into the realm of sleep.

_I wonder if Sakura-chan has as much fun as much I do….._

~~~the same day, twelve hours prior~~~

_Shannaro, I hate you sensei!!_

Now Haruno Sakura considered herself a non-violent and calm person, few had actually managed to get her riled up with the exception of Ino-pig, that baka Naruto and anyone who dared to say something against her precious Sasuke-kun.

But at the moment the pink haired kunoichi was on the verge of exploding, of screaming herself hoarse and killing that lazy excuse for a baka that she was forced to call sensei. How was she supposed to impress Sasuke-kun, when all they were doing were menial tasks like weeding flowerbeds, buying groceries for old people, walking dogs or catching that trice damned cat.

Crouching behind a bush Sakura tried desperately not to loose her temper, lest tipping the animal off, She wasn't going to chase after the damned beast again. Listening carefully for Sasuke's confirmation, she adjusted her position. He should be ready.

A cracking sounded in her ear and alerted her. Seconds later Sasuke's could be heard over the small piece of technology in her ear. . how she loved the sound of the dark haired shinobi and one day she vowed to herself, the voice would be filled with warmth while speaking to her.

"One day, soon."

it would be hard she knew, but she was prepared to fight for it, she wouldn't loose to Ino or any other girl. Everyday she got up early to shower, dress and do her hair, to look good just for the last Uchiha. And while he had yet to acknowledge it, she was sure that he appreciated her efforts. Besides Sakura knew that she was smart, smarter than Sasuke, though she was careful not to flaunt it. God knew how angry he got when he wasn't the best, but that was probably because of the high expectations the village and he had for himself.

The young girl knew just how much the last Uchiha expected from himself. His words from the day of the introduction were still ringing in her ears.

~~~the academy, two months prior~~~

Sakura was excited, today she would finally earn what she had worked for. Hours of studying and finally she had made genin and as of today she would be part of a genin team as well as meet her sensei. Not to forget that Sasuke would be on her team, the pink haired girl was confident concerning that matter. They were both top of the class and it was only logical to pair the two of them up. At least in her opinion that is.

The day had already started in her favor. Ino had lost the race against her and she was sitting next to Sasuke, who was as always deep in thought. The blond idiot had failed the graduation exam for the third time, which meant there was no chance that they would be on the same team. Soon the annoying call of "Sakura-chan" would be nothing more than a distant memory in the back of her mind. The only thing she might have to worry about was the danger of being on the same team as Ino. But something told her that she would get her wish, Ino wouldn't be on the same team as her and Sasuke.

Patiently her class waited for Iruka-sensei to appear only to be surprised as Suzume-sensei entered. She studied them briefly before standing in front of the class with a clipboard in her hand.

"Ohayo, for those who don't know me, I am Suzume-sensei. I'm here to announce the genin cells."

Sakura noted that Kiba raised his hand.

"Yes?"

"What happened to Iruka-sensei?"

Suzume-sensei looked surprised, studying Kiba intently for a few seconds before she nodded slightly.

"Iruka-sensei was injured two days ago as he confronted a missing nin. He is still recovering, that is all I will say about it. Now for the teams."

The Inuzuka looked somewhat disgruntled and not satisfied with the answer, mouth still open as to continue his line of questioning. The rest of the class was bursting with barely restrained curiosity and Sakura herself was no exception. A real missing nin, here in Konoha? And Iruka-sensei had fought him?

"Team 2.."

"Hey Inuzuka, what do you know about it? Tell us!!"

Droning out the announcements of her former sensei, the young kunoichi leaned forward so that she could hear Kiba's reply. From the corner of her eyes she noticed Sasuke doing the same. Naturally Kiba preened under the attention he was receiving and Sakura was tempted to smack him, but restrained herself. If she actually did smack him, the other genin would probably clam up and not tell them anything.

"My kaa-san told my sister about it yesterday. Apparently the traitor stole something real important from the Hokage. I don't know how Iruka-sensei got involved but kaa-san that he was the one to confront the missing nin and was gravely injured. But the missing nin got arrested."

Sakura sat back as Kiba trailed off, her mind already progressing what she had heard. In a few years that might have been her, her duty to stop someone from harming the village, to confront a traitor and stop him. According to Kiba Iruka-sensei had been seriously injured, he might have died. A possibility that was no longer out of reach, but also very probable. The thought sent chills down her spine and she shuddered. But she would be ready, she had to.

"Team 7.. Haruno Sakura .. and Sasuke Uchiha, jounin-sensei will be Hatake Kakashi… Team 8 Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuga Hinata and Aburame Shino, your sensei will Yuuhi Kurenai, Team 9.."

Sakura's hearing gave out, had she heard right? She and Sasuke were on the same team, together. Jumping up she squealed, she had done it. In the background she could hear the annoyed screams of anger and Ino's complaining, but for once she ignored it. Her wish had come true.

"Team 10 under leadership of Sarutobi Asuma consists of Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru and Yamanaka Ino. .. These are the teams. Your jounin-sensei will pick you up after lunch break, so I suggest that you use your remaining time to already get to know your team mates. And for those who wanted to ask.."

Suzume-sensei's eyes were hidden behind glasses but her stare was no less intense as she addressed the class, focusing on the enraged girls on the right side of the classroom.

"Team 7 consists of two students because of the uneven number of graduates. And no, there won't be any changes."

Ino-pig's open mouth shut abruptly and she scowled. The blonde would certainly have been the loudest protester and Sakura couldn't help but feel smug about it, She managed to hold her tongue though, Suzume-sensei was clearly in no mood to argue.

"Why is Sasuke-kun in the same team as forehead?!"

Sakura scowled, how dumb could Ino actually be. Suzume-sensei's temper was almost as bad as the one of Iruka-sensei. The pink haired was indeed correct with her prediction, because the dark glare that the older woman send Ino was scorching in it's intensity. But nevertheless she answered the blonde's question.

"Uchiha-san and Haruno-san have been placed together because they are both top of the class. Usually the best student is paired with the worst in order to balance the team out and cover all areas of strengths. But due to the uneven number of graduates this year, the rule cannot be applied. Under such circumstances we tend to place the two best students together, because we expect that they have the most potential to balance out the missing third member. Your sensei will be here after lunch. I wish you luck!"

Having finished her piece the dark haired kunoichi turned around and left the classroom almost as quietly as she had entered it. There was probably another class waiting for her. Left behind was one excited class, whose students couldn't wait for lunch break to be over and on cue the lunch bell sounded through the academy, signalling the beginning of thirty minutes of rest.

Sakura tried to follow Sasuke outside, she hoped they could have lunch together and get to know each other better… and if things really went well, ask him out on a date and maybe.. maybe get her first kiss from him. But the boy brushed her off, as usual and went back inside the building, ignoring every attempt at communication. His bento was still in his hand. Sakura watched him go and felt her heart sinking as the brunet left. Another failure, but she wouldn't give up. She had to prove that she wasn't just one of Sasuke-kun's fangirls. No she loved him even if she didn't know him that well, yet.

Her green eyes rested on her, in her opinion, bony knees as she sat on one of the many benches that surrounded the academy. Her own bento box next to her, but she made no move to eat, she wasn't hungry. Hopefully working with the last Uchiha would be easier, the kunoichi knew that Sasuke-kun was far better than her in terms of fighting, genjutsu being the exception. But only because of her superior chakra control, otherwise he would have surpassed her in all areas of shinobi techniques. Not that it bothered her, Sasuke-kun was a genius after all and it was expected that he surpassed them.

With her resolve to do her best strengthened, the pink haired girl grabbed her bento, smiling as she saw that her kaa-san had prepared sushi for her. Proud, that was what her parents were, proud of her managing to graduate in a class dominated by the clans. She was the first ninja in their family with both her parents and their families being civilians. The day she passed had been celebrated, her mother had prepared her favourite dish with her favourite dessert mochi with preserved ume, while her father had presented her with two pouches filled with kunai and shuriken as well as her own bank account at the Konoha Central Bank.

Now as a shinobi she was considered an adult in the eyes of the village laws, regardless of what decisions she made now, she would be held responsible for them and she would bear the consequences of her actions. It also meant that she would earn money now and that made it her right to own an account to manage her earnings. Moving out had also been a possibility, that she had considered but ultimately decided against. Her parents had told her that she was welcome to stay as long as she liked. That the room of her childhood would always be hers and she had gladly accepted.

Careful inquiry had given her the impression that the beginning missions weren't exactly well paid. If she moved out, then she would have to restrict her spending. Products like cosmetics and make-up wouldn't be on her shopping list anymore until she had advanced in the ranks and done harder missions. And it wasn't as if she could as her parents to pay an apartment for her, that went beyond irresponsibility. She was a shinobi now, she would act like one. Everything else was unacceptable.

Grabbing the chopsticks she dug in. Mhmmmm … another bonus of still living at home was that her kaa-san insisted on preparing her bento, which tasted about one hundred times better than her own.

The bell rang, signalling the end of lunch break, only moments after she finished her meal. Closing the box she turned around to enter the academy building for what was most likely the last time.

Sasuke was already back, sitting in exactly the same position, with his hands folded in front of him. Probably thinking about something related to his new team, while his face had not given away anything about how he felt about their team, she had noticed how his shoulders had tensed and since Sasuke was her love-interest she made her business to know as much about him as she could get her hands on, therefore she knew that his shoulders tensing meant distress or that he was feeling uncomfortable. In other words he was not happy about working with her and that thought made her heart clench in pain.

it was also the reason she simply nodded in greeting and took her place next to him, being silent for once. From time to time she peeked at her crush from the corner of her eyes, but his position hadn't changed. He made no effort to talk to her. Sakura tuned out as the door opened from time to time and older voices called out the numbers of other teams. Around them the classroom emptied as more and more jounin came and fetched their teams until only she and Sasuke were left. Sakura growled, where in the name of hell was their sensei??!! It had been more than two hours already since the team of Ino-pig left and that been 15 minutes after the end of lunch break!!

At first she had been happy that her and Sasuke were alone, but as he continued to rebuff her attempts at talking with him and flat out rejected her idea of a date she grew quite angry, mostly from humiliation knowing that the boy she loved didn't want her.

Keeping quiet as not to loose more face in front of Sasuke-kun, she seethed until thirty minutes later the door was slid open. She and Sasuke turned around to face the person that was hopefully their jounin-sensei. Silver hair was the first thing that struck her eyes as she studied the man in the threshold, but as he opened his mouth, hidden by a mask she noticed, voice oddly muffled she was shocked and the rest of the meeting a blur until Sasuke started his own introduction and spoke that one sentence that sent shivers down her spine. It was like a splash of water into the face, clearing her muddled thoughts.

"There's a man I will kill!"

"Only one third of the class will become genin. The rest will return to the academy."

~~~shrubbery, mission D~~~

Yes Sasuke really expected much from himself and she would do everything in her power to help him achieve his goal. She wanted to see a smile on that usually stoic face. She hadn't failed him yet and would continue to do her best.

Turning her attention back onto her target, which was sitting near a bush, completely unaware of her presence. The rough pink tongue stroking over the rust coloured fur, cleaning it off dirt. Oh how she hated that damn cat!!

A cracking sound in her ear and then she heard the signal. Sasuke rushed at the beast from one of the surrounding trees, arms extended, trying to catch the feline.. and failed. The animal evaded the brunet shinobi and ran off, right into her direction. Sakura was ready, before the beast knew what happened, the kunoichi had grabbed the cat named Tora and held her close, taking care to immobilize the paws to avoid injury. She had learned that one pretty quick after Sasuke had been maimed the first time around.

Claws scratched and damn the scratches hurt.

Checking for the bow that was the trademark of Tora, she sighed in relief. A bright red bow was tied around one of the ears. Securing the cat she angled her head to so that her team mate would understand her.

"Target caught, I repeat target is caught."

Now to bring the beast back and clean up. All that sitting hidden between the bushes had left reminders in form of stains and dirt. Definitely getting clean. They had already caught the feline two times today and every time they had thought they were finished, until the damn beast had proven to possess the wits of a genius and had escaped again. Besides before chasing Tora they had already weeded the garden of Kotane-sensei. All Sakura wanted to do now was getting rid of the animal, take a long shower and go to sleep.

In moments like this she wished that she was still a student under the care of Iruka-sensei. She really wished it, being pre-genin had been far easier.

~~~on the other side of the village, the Hokage's tower, the main storage room~~~

He hated his duty, he really did, because if you worked at the mission desk, you not only had to deal with your own paperwork, but also with the one of every kami damned shinobi there was. And most of those aforementioned thrice damned men and women couldn't write a decent report to save their lives. Unfortunately for him, Mizuki belonged to this category as well.

Suppressing a quite animalistic growl, he shook his head. How some of those adults could write worse than pre-school children gave him a headache. Why again did he have to do this? Ah yes, his duty to the village and the Hokage. Closing another folder he sighed for the unmentioned time, he absolutely hated the chunin as well as jounin of Konoha, especially Mizuki, at the moment.

Putting the old document back into the box he had taken it from in the first place and grabbing another one, he blew the dust away. This one, too, was a report Mizuki had written several years ago. Snapping the pages open he browsed over the details and frowned. This mission, a B, had been a success, as long as the casualty was ignored. One of the chunin, who had been tasked alongside Mizuki and another chunin to steal an important scroll from Iwa, had died. The other two, Mizuki and Himura Akito, had returned relatively unharmed with Himura sporting a dislocated shoulder and several cuts. Mizuki had been at full health since he had, according to the report, been the one to carry the scroll and therefore had been protected by his comrades.

All in all the mission sounded like a typical B-rank mission. So how had Hotari Daisuke died?

Of course, his death was described in the report and the explanation wasn't illogical either. It happened often that shinobi sacrificed themselves for their comrades or to complete a mission and this one might not have been any different, if not for a small detail. One that probably hadn't, years ago, carried any importance, but now in lights of the recent events was a crucial hint.

But for what?

An additional note had been written by Himura Akito. The note stated that the trio had split up during the chase from the Iwa shinobi with Himura acting as a bait. That in itself wasn't unusual either, it was a proven if somewhat cowardly tactic: leave the weakest behind as to distract the enemy.. but it remained fact that after meeting up again, Hotari Daisuke had been dead and Touta Mizuki had been the one to verify his death. Another anomaly was, that he had stayed behind for a longer amount of time than needed to burn the dead body and collect the ashes.

Even more so, he had offered to do the task and all supposed credit for sentimentality aside, that was just plain stupid. As scroll carrier Mizuki should have left immediately, especially considering that the Iwa shinobi had just killed his protector. Himura also noted that the side, where he had found Mizuki for all appearances unharmed, bared no signs of battle, neither the upturned earth, which was a key factor in most doton jutsu nor signs of blood. He further assumed that Mizuki must have escaped his enemies and brought the body with him to burn him before meeting up again. As his senior he had noted that, while it was a very nice gesture, it was also a tactical error which could have cost him his life.

The note ended there with a scrawled signature and date stamped beneath.

Comparing the date to the one of the mission report revealed that the note had been handed in after Mizuki had submitted his report, which was likely the reason why no one had paid any attention to it. The main report had already been handed in and additional notes were written countless times afterwards, because details had only been recalled after a good night of sleep. So the shinobi on duty had stamped the additional report and filed him correctly, but he had probably never read it.

A fatal mistake, because now with Mizuki being a traitor, they had to revaluate every single mission, every mistake every casualty the chunin had reported until they knew from what point on had he been an enemy of Konoha. Closing the folder he stuck it into his vest before closing the drawer. After studying this mission in more depth it would be advisable to visit Himura Akito. He remembered dimly that the man had been promoted to tokubetsu two years ago and he specialised in … tactics, bingo. Such an important position stopped generally the rapid flow of missions, with any luck he could talk to Himura after lunch. Perhaps he should also advise Ibiki to question Mizuki on this findings.

Mizuki was a sly one, he had already proven that by deceiving them, maybe for years.

But as slithery as he was, he had no clearance high enough to even know about the existence of the scroll Uzumaki Naruto had stolen. The conclusion was obvious to even a blind person, someone had told him about it, someone not only knowing about the scroll but it's exact location. Coincidence was impossible, even most jounin didn't know about the scroll with the possible exception of few of the Hokage's personal ANBU, himself included.

Well now, almost anyone knew about the existence if not the contents, the stint the Kyuubi container pulled was anything but inconspicuous.

Mizuki though was a loner by nature; he was rarely seen in the company of other shinobi and his circle of friends included a few chunin, most of them being sensei at the academy, but no jounin or ANBU.

"_Which means that someone who knew of the scroll's existence told him, but who?"_

Making sure that nothing was disturbed he stepped out of the room and closed the door, security seals activating immediately. Touching the wall, the surface rippled and he was gone, leaving no trace of his presence behind.

"_I need to see the Hokage and Ibiki.. they need to know about this…"_

The pan tiles on the roof rippled and he slid onto the top of the tower. For safety purposes the headquarters of the torture and interrogation department were hidden in another part of the village, which meant that he should see the Hokage first since he was already at the Hokage's Tower and later visit Ibiki after discussing his findings with the Hokage.

The plan was blown the minute he landed on the sill of the window of the Sandaime's office. Another ANBU, Tora, caught sight of him and signalled discretely that the Hokage was still in a meeting with the daimyo of fire country. Giving a simple nod, he leapt off the building and onto the next. Seemed like he would see Ibiki first then. Drawing his protective cloak tighter he sprinted off.

Silence greeted him as he entered the building through one of the windows. With confidence he jumped into the room, landed in a crouch and waited for a few seconds while pulsing his chakra in a sequence of short impulses and only as he felt an answering sequence did he move. Hokage knew what would happen if he hadn't waited for the identification to end.

Adjusting the cloak, he left the entrance hall and entered one of the longwinded corridors, which existed a hundreds times throughout the whole building. Only those who knew their way wouldn't get lost, the rest.. poor human beings…

The heart of the building, being a stark contrast to the entrance hall, was filled with life and activity. The hall shaped like a square with a dome like ceiling made of safety glass. The shining sun lightened the whole room, though during summer the heat could be unbearable. Old desks littered one of the corners with two ANBU scribbling something, probably reports for Ibiki. Another corner held a few couches and seats for the ANBU to rest or wait until their duty or mission started.

The remaining hall housed a large office desk, not unlike the one of the Hokage, where one of the ANBU accepted the reports, never below the rank of A and therefore classified. The handing out was either handled by Ibiki or the Hokage himself, always depending on the situation. The last wall of the hall held doors, which led into the cellar levels, where all offices, storage rooms, holding cells and the interrogation rooms as well as the dungeons, used for physical torture were located.

Giving a small greeting to his fellow comrades, who sat around a table gambling, he opened one of the numerous doors. Silently he noted that none of the remaining men on duty was concealing their face and for a brief moment he had the urge to take off his mask as well, but as fast as the feeling had come it was already gone again. It was a foolish notion, he knew that he couldn't take the mask off, logic reminding him brutally what his duty demanded: Foolish thoughts indeed.

Two stairs down, once left and three time right and he stood in front of the office of one of the most influential man of Konoha. Knocking briefly in a special sequence he waited until the familiar baritone voice allowed his entry. Then and only then he touched handle and opened the door. Slipping inside he was greeted by his grim looking superior. Giving a quick greeting he pulled the folder from behind his vest and threw it onto the paperwork laden desk in front of the imposing master of T&I. They both didn't waste their times with useless greetings, not when the situation was dire.

"Time to take a dive into the past!"

~~~Hi no Kuni, Tanzaku Gai, a food stand

Life was great, Naruto decided. Had he known that living outside of Konoha was like this, he would have left a lot earlier. Looking around he studied the civilians mingling on the marketplace, the stands packed with people haggling over prices and wares, while enjoying a bowl of steamed vegetables. But the best of all no one recognized him, no muttered comments and no overcharged prizes on food or other goods. Just peace.

Leaning against the counter, he smiled, it was

really a nice village. Full of beautiful women and job opportunities. Work had been plenty since he had left Konoha over two months ago. Not to mention all the important things he had learned during these months, far more than in six years of attending the academy.

He really should sent the old man a present, no one had helped him like this before, ever. To think that nearly all his sensei at the academy had deemed him a hopeless case, how laughable. Taking a few ryou from a hidden pocket he left them on the counter and waved a farewell. The next job was waiting and it wouldn't be good to be late. Tardiness could cost reputation and lives. Lifting the thick travel scroll he strapped it to his back. After securing the strap he walked into an alley without being seen.

Carefully stretching his senses he felt nothing and only then his hands lifted and his fingers formed the sign of Hitsuji for Henge and immediately followed by the cross like one of the Kage Bushin no jutsu. The concentrated chakra, he had, ran through his coils and seconds later the young boy had been replaced by the woman child named Minako.

She wore her dark blue kimono with a koi fish sewn into the dark fabric in a hundred shades of red and gold. The broad obi, silver coloured, was tied in a traditional bow. The wooden sandals and the white socks completed the outfit. Her hair was for once secured in a knot and decorative chopsticks held it in place. Simple but very elegant looking.

Smiling demurely Minako turned around and summoned her matching umbrella from her scroll before securing it on her back. Bracing the rain protection against her left shoulder, she left the alley through the opposite end. The sight that greeted her now, was a lot more colourful and lively. She had reached the main road of the city. Observing the men and women hurrying along, the blonde haired kunoichi strode leisurely towards the best inn of Tanzaku Gai. The enormous surface was painted in a pale golden colour with balconies, offering a beautiful view of the castle that towered over the city. The windows made from fine crystal glass and the doors guarded by samurai.

The front of the inn was decorated with potted plants, which were in dire need of a little watering from what Minako could tell. Gardening being one of her hobbies, so she knew more than enough about it. With a brief nod towards the guards she sat on one of the many benches, which had been placed alongside the inn. Now all she could do was wait, royalty was rarely on time. Setting her umbrella aside, she pulled a small orange coloured book from the folds of her obi. Opening it at the bookmarked page, she began to read. For all purposes complete immersed in the course of the story.

She was stifling a giggle as the double doors opened and beautiful woman, along with three girls dressed like servants, stepped outside. Snapping the book shut, she shoved it back behind the obi, then stood and bowed properly, like it was befitting a member of the royal house of Kaze no Kuni. Turning her head she glanced at the three servants and noted that another three, all males this time, had joined the group. All of them wore the fitting uniform that proclaimed them to be servants of the hime's family. Minako held back an aggravated sound, the hime might as well made an announcement to make her presence known.

One thing was clear, he couldn't hope, that whoever wanted her dead, was unaware of her location.

"Himitsu-hime."

The beautiful woman simply nodded, not deigning herself to speak with the kunoichi, who stood in front of her, still bowing, with eyes on the ground. One of the servants had been sent to the stables, because he returned with eight horses in tow. Without acknowledging her, he proceeded to assist the hime onto her horse, the by far most beautiful animal Minako had laid her eyes on. Another one of the serving girls pulled her aside. Months ago that kind of attitude would have had her blood boiling with rage, but no longer. Instead she simply let herself be pulled, as the girl whispered into her ear.

"Minako-sama, the hime wishes for you to guard her on her journey home to Sunagakure. The guarding of the hime takes highest priority. She has successfully negotiated a contract between Suna and another party, but there are those who do not want the contract to be fulfilled. The hime is expecting attempts on her life. We will travel by horse to save time and you will pose as one of the hime's companions. We have a horse ready for you as well."

The servant pointed one of the horses out to her before continuing.

"If someone dares to attack the hime during our journey, you will intervene. The hime wants the ones behind the attempts, that surely will be made. Any questions?"

"Am I expected to interact with the hime?"

A shake of his head was enough answer and Minako nodded. She turned around and mounted the horse the servant had indicated to be hers, taking care to copy the elegant way the hime sat while looking completely at ease. Hopefully she wouldn't make a fool of herself, after all this was the first time she had ever seen a horse let alone ridden one.

Carefully she shifted on the saddle, testing the boundaries and hindrance the leather made item presented. After a few minutes she had found a position that offered her easy access to her weapons and mobility to wield them, while still being seated like a proper lady. The umbrella ended up being strapped above her travelling scroll and both her legs were swung over the back of the horse and rested on the same side. Taking the reigns between her fingers, again copying the remaining travellers, she encouraged the horse to move.

Surprisingly the sleek brown coloured animal did exactly what she wanted. Giving a nod to the hime, they were off. Minako was ignored throughout the whole ride and it made the boy turned girl somewhat glad that he was no royalty. Because if this was how they treated their friends and companions like, she didn't want to see how their enemies were treated. Come to think of it, she had been hired to kill their enemies. There she had the answer to her question.

Time moved slowly as the days passed. It only took roughly a week before they had reached the borders of Kawa no Kuni and the journey through the country proved to be peaceful as well, but Minako was still on guard as opposed to the servants, who had lost their tenseness five days after the beginning, probably believing that the danger was already over. The Kyuubi container didn't agree.

On the night of their first rest she had ordered one of the servants to show her the planned route and she immediately had guessed that any assassin attempt would be made once they had passed Kaze no Kuni's borders. Simply because once they left Kawa no Kuni behind they would be alone, alone and helpless with no population in sight.

Katabami Kinzan was the last village in Kawa and after it there was nothing but a rocky mountain like terrain with a few goat farms in between. No one could help them, once they passed that point. The borders of Kaze no Kuni were rocky and then nothing but sand with few oases scattered throughout the desert. Even shinobi avoided travelling through the landscape filled with nothing but sand. It was the perfect place for an ambush, the hidden village was miles into the country and it took days to reach it. They would be caught in a trap of their own making, but there was no avoiding the desert. Not when you wanted to reach the village hidden in the sand.

After coming to the conclusion Minako had set to relax and conserve chakra throughout the days they travelled through fire country and later river country. She savoured the night spent at the inn in Katabami Kinzan for it would be the last time she slept on a real futon for weeks.

Travelling through the desert took time and patience, two habits she had only recently acquired. But it was necessary, otherwise they might get lost and then, death was almost imminent. They couldn't afford it in addition to the assassins, who might attack them soon. Carelessness could kill them in this situation.

Henged clones had scouted the surrounding area during the last days and they had found traces of another group travelling through river country with maybe two miles distance between them. It had to be their attackers, of that Minako had no doubt. She had never been able to catch any of them off guard to kill them, but she knew they were getting restless. The formerly meticulous hidden campsites, now often showed signs of being cleaned half-heartedly as well as sloppy concealment. Either they had noticed and tried to confuse her or they were really anxious to kill the hime. Sadly Minako couldn't tell which of her guesses was correct.

Not that it changed anything, she would be ready for them!

Nudging her horse a bit, she sped up until she was on par with the hime. The clone, which had henged into a squirrel, had just dispersed and given her interesting information. The most interesting since Minako's discovery of the second camp. Finally they had grown impatient enough, the attempt was now inevitable and only a matter of time. Discretely she had given the servants a pre-arranged signal.

_Danger ahead!_

Now they would be on alert as well, she had stressed several days ago, that they had to act completely normal, while preparing for an encounter and the defence. She had even taken to surprise them until they didn't bat as much as an eyelid. Sadly the servants were silent as graves most of the time, which left Minako without a conversation partner, but they had been well trained. Without the prior training they certainly wouldn't have adapted as well as they had.

In a few minutes one of them would feign an accident and then the most certain would be assassins were fair game. The position of power would be theirs and their enemies wouldn't know, wouldn't have the slightest clue that she had changed the rules and left them hanging in the air. A fox like smirk graced her full lips, she couldn't wait for them to realize the truth.

Five minutes passed in agonizing slowness and it was all pure force of will that kept Minako from screaming and therefore blowing the whole charade. But then finally, finally the servant acted. Seemingly on his own, one of the packages tied to the servant's saddle loosened and dropped to the ground. As planned the group stopped, the servants immediately ushering the hime into their centre, surrounding her while bowing profusely and apologizing for their tardiness. Meanwhile Minako and another servant, a brunette, whose name she forgot time and again, no matter how often she asked for it, "checked" on the dropped package. In truth she merely gave reminders, on how the servants were supposed to act once the attack was underway.

Scanning the area discretely, while supposedly looking for tears in the paper, which had been used to wrap the treasure, Minako noted that the other servant, a female with blonde hair, had secured the reigns of their horses.

_Everything according to the plan.._

There was only so much paper Minako could pretend to inspect, so she took the package and retied it to the saddle before declaring that the contents were still intact and that they could continue their journey. Now they entered the part of the plan, which was open for improvisation since none of them could have known, when their enemy decided to attack.

_There they are…_

Minako's eyes narrowed as she secured the last strap on the saddle. One of her hands moved towards the umbrella still strapped to her back, while her left foot shifted to accommodate her weight better. She was ready.

_Here they come… _

For a moment, no one breathed as figure cut through the density of the mist, which had enveloped the valley they had been passing through. Minako suppressed an annoyed sigh, to think that there had been a time, where she had thought, that such dramatic moves were the way to win, was embarrassing. How naïve she had been, she would never know.

The man, probably in his late thirties, attempted to jump over her and the horse to get to the hime. Needless to say he failed, as Minako had been prepared and pulled the Katana, which had been hidden in the tube of her umbrella. The sleek blade slid through the air and cleaved her opponent in half. On instinct she threw the servant, who had tended to the horses, into the arms of the brunette, whose name she always forgot.

Her weapon came up and blocked kunai, which had been aimed at the princess. Minako concentrated, she felt as her senses expanded, grew raw in case of sensitivity and filled her being. No detail escaped her now, not in this state. She was shinobi and no one would stop her.

The remaining men and women attacked and she reacted. Movements became a blur to the untrained eye and seconds later the next assassin was dead. Growling, she sensed chakra. Trying to twist away he noticed as something wrapped itself abound her midsection. A tree had grown behind her, the branches twisting around her, fusing her with the bark, trying to trap her. The blonde really hated genjutsu. Above her she could smell her attacker already, the sharp odour of sweat and blood having alerted her of his presence.

Her grip on her weapon tightened as she swiped one of her fingers over the steel, skin breaking like paper, with blood welling from the wound. For her, pain was the easiest option of breaking genjutsu. Seconds later she felt the hold, that the supposed tree had on her, loosen and knew she was free, yet she stood motionless. Acting as if still caught in the jutsu, she waited. Only as her attacker was right above her, did she act. Her once trapped arm moved and the blade broke through the air, giving the attacker, a male, barely time to evade. But he managed, even as he lost quite a few strands of hair.

However he never noticed the kunai, that flew his way and pierced his throat, severing the spinal cord and killing him immediately. A distressed cry caused Minako to turn around, creating a clone while doing so. The copy readily distracted another attacker for the original before drawing a shorter female in a taijutsu match.

After insuring that the genjutsu user was indeed dead, she attacked the former opponent of her clone, which it had abandoned to fight the female. It was another male, he wore a mask, which covered the lower half of his face, concealing nose and mouth from her prying eyes. Bringing her Katana down in a slashing motion she wasn't surprised to find it blocked by a kunai, in a close fight the more than one yard long weapon was a definite disadvantage.

Giving her opponent a kick in the chest, she withdrew the blade, sliding it back into it's sheath. From the most distanced angle of her periphery, she could see that one of the servants was about to get killed. Her finger formed a familiar seal and she replaced herself with the box that was the only flimsy barrier between the servant and the far more deadly opponent.

Appearing right before the servant she plunged a kunai into the stunned face of her opponent before paying attention to the one she had missed with her blade. But before she could fully pay attention to him she felt shivers run down her spine and her body moved on instinct alone as she twisted away to evade the kunai that nicked the left side of her chest. Her other hand drew her Katana again and with a precise slash the throat was slit, blood pouring out and drenching her kimono.

Jumping away from a slash, she faced her original opponent, who sported a very interesting haircut. Again twisting, her fingers graced the kunai, which was still stuck inside one of the dead bodies. Clutching the handle she ripped the pointed blade from the body and threw it at her enemy's face, forcing him to retract his sword and giving her room to form handseals for another Kage Bushin, which promptly vanished in a puff of smoke.

She could hear the oddball snicker but ultimately ignored it. If there was one thing the old man had pounded into her thick skull, it was the fact that overemotional tantrums as well as loss of concentration would end badly. And after many hard learned experiences, she had learned to let her emotions go. They had no place on the battlefield. Sheathing her Katana again, she loosened the strap on her umbrella instead. Grabbing the rain protector, she blocked the sword again, pressing the blade away from her body; legs tensing, preparing to jump and finally twisting into the air. The blade was drawn in mid flight with the sheath flung away. A hand shot out from the ground and grabbed the ankles of her attacker, the nimble fingers closing, pulling and the male was abruptly drawn into the earth.

_Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu__  
_

The blonde was ready and neatly severed the head before landing on her feet again. Focusing on the last female, she ignored the blood that splattered over the earth and her face. The opposing woman was performing handseals and she was doing it at high speed. Her blade struck the earth and her own fingers slid into the familiar position of Kage Bushin, but this time she didn't create one or two of them, but twenty. A mental comment and they formed a barrier between the hime and her opponent, a wall made of kage bushin.

Grabbing her weapon she evaded the katon jutsu, which engulfed her barrier and destroyed the copies in an instant. Minako winced as the memories assaulted her, burning to death was definitely unpleasant, but at least the servants along with the hime were safe, not even the heat of the chakra induced flame had reached them. The opposing woman was also on the move, having taken the sword of her companion. Their blades clashed and immediately Minako yielded, letting her body be pushed back. A fight between shinobi wasn't honourable, it didn't matter to her, who won the contest of strength. Only the result counted for her. Using the Katana to block the other blade, she drew a kunai from one of her hidden pouches. Reacting quickly she knocked the sword aside and entered the other's personal space. Before the woman could react the kunai had pierced her chest, destroying the tissue protecting her organs.

With one last choke she fell forward, trying, even while dying, to reach Minako, trying and failing. The Kyuubi container stepped away and the female's outstretched hand landed on the bloodied ground. Regarding the terrain carefully, she came to the conclusion, that the area was safe! Only now, did she turn towards the group she was hired to protect. The servants cowered on the ground, the hime invisible in the mass of bodies, but to Minako's relief none of them appeared to be injured in any shape or form.

She hoped that none of them suffered from shock or any other psychic ailment, because it was far from over. That much Minako could tell, it was probably just a test. A movement to gather information, maybe on the hime's defences, on her group's abilities or simply if she suspected something amiss.

"Is the hime uninjured? Hatanabe-san?"

"No Minako-sama, we are unharmed."

She nodded in relief, her Katana wiped clean with a soiled rag was returned to it's sheath and the umbrella strapped to her back. Quickly her fingers formed a seal and another two clones popped up. One gesture later they had henged into small animals and scurried away to scout their surroundings. Meanwhile the blonde ordered the servants to help her clean up the area and pile the bodies together. She needed to get rid of them. Though before she would carefully filch their pockets. It was possible that one might have information on their person.

But before that the camp needed to be set up, there was no point in travelling any further. She could tell that the attack had left the hime shaken and rest was something they all needed now. So with a quick motion of her hands she created another pair of clones, which were sent to gather water from a nearby stream. As she had yet to learn any good suiton jutsu, they would need the water to clean up as well as cooking something for dinner.

The shinobi turned kunoichi took her time to inspect the hime, who by now had left the cluster of her servants and sat on the side. One of her female servants, a redhead named Kasumi, next to her and offered some beverage, sake from the looks of it. Now Minako had no reason to suspect anything amiss with the servants, while not having enough time to do an in-depth background check, it had been enough to know that all of them had served the hime's family for years and none of them had reason to betray her. Though that didn't mean, that they wouldn't, money often was a fine incentive. Thus the blonde pushed a bit of chakra towards her nasal receptors and effectively enhanced them. The smell of sake drifted over her senses and she quickly compared the different nuances to the smell she had memorized during her time with the old man and found nothing. As far as she could tell the sake was clear.

Relaxing a bit the hime accepted the drink offered, for all purposes unaware of the eyes on her person, and took small sips. Slowly the colour returned to her pale face and she stopped shivering. She would be alright, Minako decided, probably just shaken from the amount of blood that had splattered the area. She had to wrinkle her nose at the image herself, it was far too noticeable.

Any shinobi worth his money would know immediately, that someone had fought here. But it couldn't be changed, all there was left to do was to clean the area to the best of her abilities. Then a meal and a brief rest before they would continue with their travels. She wanted to use the few precious hours of the night as much as possible. Entering the desert during the day was a foolish thought, especially with the horses exhausted as they were. They needed to reach the first oasis before the sun was high and the temperatures unbearable.

The clones reappeared with the water rations, which were promptly used to refill the canteens and set up a pot to cook a bit of meat broth as well as cleaning the area and Minako herself. The kimono, she had been wearing had been splashed with blood and was ruined for good. No one had time to clean the fabric properly and blood was a bitch to wash out after it had dried, therefore she could save herself time and get rid of the clothing right away.

Within minutes she had redressed in another one, taking the soiled clothes she put them on the bodies and used the strongest katon jutsu she was capable of, taking care to make the flame as hot as she could without burning her lips. Katon jutsu weren't her speciality, but she could make them work well enough. One deep breath and the fallen ones were burning, cremated to ashes in an instant along with her favourite kimono.

Only thirty minutes after the attack they all rested around the campfire and waited for the broth to finish.

"After the meal, we will continue our journey. The sun is already setting and we will reach the first oasis during the night before the temperature rises again. Let's spent our day resting and recovering. At the next sunset we'll continue."

In the end the meal was quick, none of the travellers having much of an appetite to consume more than a bowl of the meat broth before the small camp was broken up again. Checking once more that nothing was left behind they mounted their horses to tackle the most difficult station of their journey: the desert of Kaze no Kuni. The Kyuubi container created more clones, which promptly henged into coyotes. Giving the order to scout the area and circle their group the clones ran away. A warning beforehand was appreciated and Minako was sure that this was far from over.

They urged the horses on, faster than before. The borders were crossed and the rocky terrain of Kawa no Kuni was left behind. Now they were really on their own. No outside help would come. The setting sun wasn't warm, but she was confident that they would reach the first before the night was over. Deserts at night were usually very chilling and made travelling impossible except in Kaze no Kuni. Here the wind was responsible for the hot temperatures, which sunk only fractionally during the night, leaving it warm enough in the desert to travel through it.

Her prediction came true, their group reached the first oasis shortly after midnight. By now the moon had risen and offered enough light to navigate through the small patch of greenery. A fact Minako appreciated, as a fire would have been too dangerous considering that there would most likely be another ambush in the near future. The hime was preparing for bed as the servants mingled around her, either assisting or taking care of the horses. The poor animals were heaving and exhausted. She would have liked to continue, but it was impossible. The horses wouldn't last until the next oasis and Kaze no Kuni had very few farms and outposts. The desert being a natural barrier, which kept outsiders at bay.

No for tonight they would have to stay here and probably the rest of the day as well. She wasn't very comfortable with the thought, but there was no way around it. Turning around she made more clones and gave them the order to set traps around the camp. She was about to get ready for the night herself as the memories of one of her clones left in the desert flooded her mind. They weren't good.

Another group of assassins had apparently entered the desert and were heading straight for them, among the group were missing-nin from Iwa as far as she could tell. During a brief rest the clone turned coyote had managed to spy on them and overheard the discussion of their plans. It was worrying. The desert was like a home turf for the Iwa nin and she was fairly sure that she had seen one of them in her bingo book before. Some stupid brutes or canon fodder may to be among them as well. But most of them were dangerous to them and she could need all of her cunning and every advantage to defeat them. Calming herself, she took a deep breaths. Only as her pulse returned to normal did she stop. Opening her eyes, her face adopted a determined expression. It was time to fight. Turning away, she hurried towards the hime to inform her of her plans.

It was a passable plan, at least for one made up in a span of five minutes. And more importantly, he could be realized in the short amount of time available to them.

It had taken another hour to get everything ready, but now they were ready to confront their enemy. Minako had estimated that the shinobi wouldn't travel by horse but by foot, seeing as they mostly used doton jutsu and therefore could use their chakra to maximum effect with little loss. They had waited until another clone had dispersed and it was only a matter of time now. Glancing at the camp, she nodded to one of the servants.

It had begun.

"I'll be cleaning myself. Please don't leave the camp anymore. The traps I have prepared are lethal."

With that she gave a short bow, fetched a towel and stepped out of the camp, bypassing her traps with little effort. Her eyes swept briefly over two hidden clones, but she made no move to acknowledge them. The spring was nothing more than a few rocks, where water trickled from a small opening in the stone, but it would have to do. Setting her umbrella aside, the blonde untied her obi, now adept enough to let it fall to the ground without having the shuriken making a sound. Undressing quickly she shoved the clothing next to the rocks before looking around. Seeing nothing she stepped under the water. It was freezing yet soothing, the aches of her muscles were washed away. Inspecting her body she came to the conclusion, that the first fight hadn't been too hard. The few bruises she had acquired were already healed as was the scratch from one of the kunai. The wound had already closed and only visible as a pink strip on the otherwise tanned skin.

Adrenalin had her on high alert since their group had entered the desert, but now with the knowledge that the attack was imminent, she was bordering on panicking. In all the time she had been on her own, she had never encountered opponents, who might defeat her. It was a first and it caused her heart to thud against her chest. It made her recall the old man's words.

_"Never challenge a superior opponent and you'll stay weak forever!"_

They were ringing in her head, consuming her very essence. Her father had once been the strongest shinobi of all countries. He would have never gotten there, had he not taken risks and pitted his skills against the ones of others. Others who must have been stronger than him.

"_Without work and training you will be left behind! Talent will only get you so far!"_

So true, her eyes flashed open and her body tilted backwards just as a blade came out of nowhere. It missed, hitting the stone in front of her and stayed stuck. She stretched her arms out and did a backflip landing behind her attacker, who had let go of the weapon to pull out another blade. Ducking the next swing, she crouched, grabbing her umbrella. Minako gritted her teeth and used chakra to steady her stance. Her opponent was a good deal stronger than her.

The assassin was unprepared for the next move, the blonde child, who had moments before matched his strength, suddenly fell back, causing him to loose his own footing. Stumbling forward he used chakra to avoid falling over and fell right into the female's trap as a fist suddenly pressed into his stomach. The force send him flying. From the corner he could see that the blonde pulled at the grip of the umbrella, a hidden weapon. Twisting the man landed in a crouch, studying her for a few seconds before charging.

He evaded her swing of the blade concealed in her umbrella, but never noticed the clone hidden behind a rock. The copy's blade came down and destroyed the attacker. Minako avoided the blood that splattered over the sand, having already seen her next opponent. Throwing herself backwards, she twisted through the air, evading another set of kunai and catching the last one. Landing she threw it back, a nauseating sound telling her that her aim had been true.

A small breeze was her only warning and for a few moments the Kyuubi container was glad that her body was currently naked, otherwise the wind wouldn't have registered. Ducking her leg swept out and pulled her attacker's feet from under him. Her hand already throwing a shuriken, before her fingers slid through a series of handseals.

_Shuriken-Kagebushin no jutsu_

One shuriken became many and rained on her opponent, who used Kawarimi to escape her single shuriken, yet it wasn't enough to escape the mass of projectiles she had created. One pierced the throat and ended his attempt to evade her attack. Landing she swallowed a pained sound as a kunai scratched her hand, forcing her to drop her Katana. To avoid another attack she rolled aside and hid behind the rock, that housed the spring.

A scream, one of her traps had activated. Ignoring her injured hand she speedily grabbed her weapon and pulled it back behind the rock. The injury wasn't serious, but as long as she was unable to use her right hand, she would have to careful. Though never in her short career as mercenary had Minako been this glad that the old man had forced her to become ambidextrous as now.

Pushing chakra into her hand she latched on the stone and pulled her body up, strained her ears she listened for any sound before she attacked. Narrowly avoiding a fireball, she sped into the personal space of the woman, the katana in front of her. The woman's eyes widened as she was impaled. The blonde container pulled the blade from the body and pushed the dazed woman to the side, using her as a shield for the kunai thrown at her. Ducking she used shushin no jutsu and was gone from the spring.

Reappearing inside the camp center, she warily examined her surroundings. None of the traps had been triggered yet, but that didn't mean anything. Muscles tense she waited. The trembling ground was the only warning she got before a hand shot out and attempted to grab her ankles. Frantically Minako tried to jump out of reach, but was ultimately too late. Thick strong fingers wrapped around her calves and pulled. She was powerless as her body sunk into the desert ground. Stupid, she had fallen for the same technique she had used hours ago.

To her right, she saw one of her traps being triggered and sighed in relief, one less. Then silence, no triggered traps, no exploding clones and no terrified screams, just this void, like every living being was suddenly gone. A quick glance to the tents and the horses reassured her that both were untouched.

A rustling sound caused her to turn her head again. Their enemies were coming together, secure in their victory. Three carried the bodies of the dead to the centre, another one, a man with a stocky built towered over her. The tanned skin, lighter than her own, was stretched thin over the bulky muscles with countless scars scattered over the aged face. The glare he gave her could have killed her, had it been a weapon. Hmm, apparently he didn't like her…

More bodies were dragged into the centre, her traps disabled and new ones set. So far the tents had been ignored, but the blonde container knew that it was only a matter of time before their attention would be focused on them. Glaring at the man, she suspected to be the leader, she tried discretely to free herself, to loosen the earth around her body.

It proved to be a useless endeavour, she was stuck, the soil and sand around her holding like a vice, making movements near impossible. With releasing a frustrated groan she watched as another one crawled out of the earth. The one who had pulled her down. She gave him the deadliest glare she could muster under the circumstances, but he was only amused by it.

All of the shinobi appeared to be Iwa-nin, ninja from Iwagakure no sato, if their headbands were to be believed and it were much more than she anticipated. Whoever the hime had angered with her negotiations was far more powerful and rich than previously assumed. To pay for what had to have been four full jounin cells one had to have some serious cash. It made Minako wonder, what exactly had been the objective of the negotiations and with whom but speculations could wait. First she needed to complete her own job and that meant keeping her charges alive.

So while she still glared at them she studied her surroundings, looking for loopholes in their own traps and possibilities to escape. Only as the Iwa shinobi gathered did she stop and concentrated on them. They were discussing the situation and she had to push chakra in her ear to hear them as she was only average in lip-reading. A dangerous endeavour since the receptors inside the ear were very delicate and sensitive. Using too much chakra and her senses of hearing as well as balance would be shot to hell and she would rather not find out if the Kyuubi was able to heal such injuries as well

She didn't even feel the chakra flow but knew it reached it's destiny and the sounds of voices filled her ears. They were speaking in their, what she assumed was their native tongue. While all shinobi countries shared a common language, the dialect varied from country to country. During the last months she had taken to learn the other dialects, but had focused on the ones of the surrounding countries, especially the lands allied with Hi no Kuni.

The Iwa dialect was hard and Minako only understood fragments of it, but she got the gist. It didn't look good for her or the hime. Apparently she wasn't a real threat, only a measly failed kunoichi. And for that comment alone she would see all of them dead. Though the fact, that she was deemed harmless was a factor working in her favour, none of the shinobi appeared to be watching, but she knew that impressions could be deceiving and with shinobi it most likely was the case.

Still she tried to free herself again, as the group of shinobi broke up. They were walking towards her, surrounding her, trying to intimidate her, but the blonde was having none of it, baring her teeth at them in a feral gesture that would make the Inuzuka proud.

Two of her opponents stepped away, surprised by the animalistic look the woman child had adopted. The way her elongated canines, perhaps a born bastard Inuzuka, gleamed in the moonlight and the big round eyes were filled with ferocity. Their leader however was unimpressed and stepped forward until he was a foot length away. He sneered before spitting in her face. The young woman didn't even closer her eyes as the slimy fluid hit her left cheek instead staring at them like they were the worst scum on earth and to her they probably were. He didn't feel guilty that she had to die now, that was just his duty. Just as she had done hers, and he had to admit for someone so young she had done well. More than one of his comrades had died at her hands. They had underestimated her and paid the prize.

Glancing around he noticed that his leader had drawn his own weapon about to end this mission. He knew the bitch, that was acting as the ambassador of the Kazekage, would be no problem once the whole thing was over. But it still struck him as odd, that she had not tried to flee during the commotion. The tents, who had persons inside, were still untouched and the horses stood almost unnaturally rigid, having made no move to shy away and escape. Something was definitely wrong but it was too late to warn his leader as he lifted the axe and swung it down.

Apprehensive Minako watched as the massive weapon was lifted. The curved blade glinted in the moonlight before it was swung at her.

* * *

  
tbc....


	3. Hasshin! Iruka VS Kakashi

Something Wicked comes this Way

**Author: **Ryuosen  
**Chapters: **3/30  
**Words:** ~ 37000+  
**Rating:** M for violence, death and sexual implications  
**Characters:** Iruka, Kakashi, Sakura, Naruto  
**Pairing: **Kakairu or Irukaka claimed at **30_kisses**, others not decided  
**Theme: **# 04 our distance and that person  
**Warnings:** spoilers for entire series just to be safe, violence and blood  
**Disclaimer:** Since Kakairu is still not canon, it's unlikely that I own it!!

**Summary:  
**As Naruto discovers his abilities and himself, Iruka plunges deeper and deeper into a tangled web of lies and conspiracies that threaten the peace and safety of every person the chuunin ever cared about. Will they prevail or inevitably loose themselves in the maelstrom of turns.

_  
_"talking"  
_thoughts, letters..  
_  
**Final annoying author's note  
**This story is a birthday present for my friend Noir and she enjoyed it so far, even though it's far from finished and her birthday's passed.  
So the complete chapter is finally finished, later than I wanted but earlier than I expected. Finals are messing with my schedule, damn them.  
Thanks to those, who reviewed: geetac, Cannibalistic Confections, jazzy2may, evil genus and twilightserius  
The number of reviews has more than tripled as have the favs.... it makes me very happy and I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it so far. Hopefully it will get even better. ^^

Also thanks to the ones, who didn't review but still read it.

I think that it all, I hope you will enjoy the story...

Ryuosen

Word explanation  
hime - jpn. princess  
Kaze no Kuni - Wind country  
Hi no Kuni – Fire country  
Juuken – jap. gentle fist style  
Gouken – jap. iron fist style  
Nindo – a motto a shinobi follows, I think Viz translated it to "way of the ninja"  
Usuratonkachi – Sasuke's insult for Naruto, I think it's translated to "dead last"  
Tadaima – jap. "I'm home"  
Okaeri nasai – jap. "Welcome back/home"  
Sabaku – jap. desert

_

* * *

  
~~~last time ~~~_

_Glancing around he noticed that his leader had drawn his own weapon about to end this mission. He knew the bitch, that was acting as the ambassador of the Kazekage, would be no problem once the whole thing was over. But it still struck him as odd, that she had not tried to flee during the commotion. The tents, who had persons inside, were still untouched and the horses stood almost unnaturally rigid, having made no move to shy away and escape._

_Something was definitely wrong, but it was too late to warn his leader as he lifted the axe and swung it down at the trapped woman child. _

Chapter 2 Hasshin! Iruka VS. Kakashi

~~~Hokage's Tower, the mission room, one week after Mizuki's betrayal~~~

Umino Iruka hated summer holidays, he could admit it now. Those six weeks when the academy would close to prepare for the new students, were always hellish for him. Most people would think that the holidays meant that he got to relax, yeah right. How wrong they were. In those six weeks he took missions in addition to working fulltime at the mission desk and preparing for his new classes.

Moments like this made him pity the chuunin, who were responsible for running the administration the remaining time of the year. Working there the full 52 weeks and he would probably be dubbed a missing-nin two months into the job. Part-time was taxing enough as it was and most of the time he had to restrain himself from murdering more than a few jounin and fellow chuunin in a decidedly brutal manner. And it wouldn't be good for the Hokage to loose so many shinobi in such a short span of time.

Gritting his teeth Iruka forced a strained smile on his face while he accepted another mission report. At least this one was perfect. With a more honest smile he thanked the spandex clad jounin. While being eccentric as hell, Maito Gai never turned a less than perfect report in. Why couldn't all jounin be this dictated? It was probably too much to ask for. Suppressing a sigh the chuunin scratched his scar briefly before offering the man another scroll for his team.

Team 9 always got the most exhausting missions available as per silent agreement with his former students Tenten and Hyuuga Neji. While he wasn't particularly close to most of the jounin, Sarutobi Asuma being the exception, he knew just how hard Maito Gai pushed his students during their training sessions. Rock Lee was just as bad, striving to surpass the limits his own body imposed on him. He even imitated his sensei, which still crept Iruka out.

The chuunin could barely reconcile Lee, the genin, with the one he remembered from the academy. The lack of ability to mould chakra successfully had been a setback, that he seemed unable to overcome. Opposite to Naruto Lee was truly unable to do jutsu and therefore couldn't be graded on that alone, instead they had put more weight on his written tests, only average, as well as his taijutsu, slightly better than average. He had barely graduated and only because they had shown lenience. Still he had been the dead-last of the class and was placed along with Hyuuga Neji, class best, as well as one of the most promising kunoichi to leave the academy in recent years, Tenten.

It had caused him and the Hokage quite a problem as they had discussed the sensei for team 9. Names had come up only to be dismissed again, from Hatake Kakashi to Morino Ibiki, who still refused to take a genin team again. The requirements had to be met, someone who could teach a Hyuuga as well as inspire Lee to do his best despite his own shortcomings. In the end their choice had been Maito Gai, a senior jounin, who had already seen three genin teams successfully claim their jounin rank without losing a team-mate once. He specialised in taijutsu and rarely relied on ninjutsu or genujutsu despite being quite capable of it.

He had been the best choice they could have made, because under his tutelage Lee bloomed to the best taijutsu user in their genin ranks, not even his fellow male team-mate could rival him in that. Being a Hyuuga he had been taught all his life on how to use the juuken, while Lee had started learning the gouken under his jounin sensei only a year ago.

Unfortunately for Tenten and Neji both, sensei and student were so enthusiastic about training, that it left his former students on the brink of exhaustion. Thus they had approached him, offered something in exchange for the most exhausting missions and after thinking the whole thing over for few minutes had accepted. While it was not against the rules to reserve missions for someone, it was frowned upon since there was something of a general rule that stated that all genin should have the same chances and the most variety of mission available. Most of the time he followed the rules, in this case though he disregarded them.

Getting genin to speak in front of the pre-genin classes was more difficult than any dentist visit as Iruka had come to discover, but he still thought it necessary. The experience coming from fresh genin, who had been shinobi for a while but not yet promoted served to open the eyes of the younger ones. With the benefit that they could relate themselves easier to them than seasoned ninja, who served for years.

So far his plan was working brilliantly. The flawless paperwork of Gai was only an additional bonus.

Sadly not all shinobi seemed to see the importance of the reports they turned in. Nothing but a bothersome task, so why should they do it properly?

Grumbling he finished filling the mission away before looking up. The mission room was blessedly empty and Iruka sighed in relief. Perhaps he could rest for a few minutes. Without acknowledging his colleagues he stood and went into the achieves, carrying his stack of already approved files.

Channelling a bit of chakra into his fingertips he touched the actual bookcase and waited as the seal glowed brightly. The drawer clicked open and Iruka quickly put the already sorted reports away. With a click the drawer closed again and the locking seal activated.

Glancing behind himself he checked the door before stepping deeper into the archives. Pulling a small dark brown coloured stone from his pocket, he formed a few seals and waited for the stone to glow brightly. It did and a small beam shot from the stone, hitting a bookcase in the left corner. Iruka frowned.

_What would he need with those?_

Checking the seal on the stone he noted that it functioned correctly and had made no mistake, as he quickly repeated the jutsu. The beam still hit the bookcase in the left corner. After making sure that the archives where still empty besides himself he went over to the case. Bookcase number 6 contained the missions D - B from two years prior.

_Mizuki's been taken off the mission roster for more than three years now.. _

His fingers were about to touch the security seal as he heard footsteps coming closer. Letting his arm fall down he lazily walked towards the room's entrance. The door opened before he passed the last bookcase. It was Satoshi, one of the chuunin, who also worked part-time. His face pulled into a somewhat pained expression. He spoke before Iruka could open his mouth.

"Iruka-san, would you help Katase-kun?"

Iruka raised an eyebrow. Katase was the senior co-worker of the mission desk. He had held the job for years, Iruka even remembered him from his own short time doing missions with his team-mates, back then a freshly promoted chuunin with a ridiculous haircut. What problems could he have?

"What is it Satoshi-san?"

"It's Hatake-sama, he has brought his report for the first D-rank mission of his team. It's quite one of the most horrible written reports I've seen so far. Former ANBU, you know how they are. When they suddenly have to write reports instead of giving them verbally. Katase-kun is at his wits end. Would you…?"

The man trailed off, sneaking glances at Iruka, while pretending to be nonchalant. Apparently trying to get the dark haired chuunin's help without raising his ire. The teacher was after all infamous for his explosives temper and vocal cords. Not to mention his vicious thirst for revenge, which was ironically the very reason, why Iruka was best suited to deal with the jounins and teaching them how to fill a proper report. If goodwill didn't work, than persuasion would be used and Iruka was nothing if not persuasive.

The brunet watched him for a few seconds before nodding. Without another words he left the room and went back to his behind the mission desk. The mission report was shoved into his hands before his backside even touched the chair. Gesturing or the jounin to come over Iruka studied the man briefly from the corner of his eyes.

Hatake Kakashi wasn't exactly an unknown person, be it in Konoha or the remaining countries. His position as a former ANBU, which was supposed to be a secret; the skill and the Sharingan, which earned him the nickname "Sharingan Kakashi" had instilled fear in most persons, though Iruka didn't consider himself to be one of them. But then again, he didn't fear the Hokage, who was the strongest shinobi in the village, someone who could kill him in a blink of an eye. The chuunin wondered what that said about his sanity before continuing his evaluation.

The jounin was tall, an inch or two more on his own height, Iruka guessed. Though it may have just been the silver coloured hair, which tilted over the headband in a gravity defying manner. Hidden beneath the fabric was the Sharingan, with the rest of the face covered by a mask, which was probably attached to the shirt he wore. The mask being nearly as much of a trademark as the Sharingan. He knew there were few to have seen the famed ninja's face and even fewer were still alive. It made Iruka wonder, what the older man would look like. Curiosity being a character trait many shinobi had.

While he was aware of the history and events surrounding Sakumo Hatake's fall from grace, he had difficulties associating the events with the reason for the mask. Hatake Kakashi's nindo essentially entailed the very reason why his father had been disgraced, though Iruka would never approve of the method the silver fang had used to escape the shame. Leaving his only child, while already a chuunin, alone was a coward's way out. Though it made him suspect, that the jounin resembled his father in more than just the hair colour.

Pushing his curiosity aside, he met the stare of the only visible eye. The older man, Iruka knew him to be two years his senior, regarded him lazily or with what he assumed was an air of boredom, which the chuunin ignored. Instead tearing his eyes away and studying the supposedly terrible report before stopping. Blinking he stared at the paper. Never in his life had he seen such a crappy report and considering that he had seen the ones of his own sensei, that said something.

_No jounin can be this stupid…_

Iruka gazed at Kakashi with something akin to disbelief.

"Hatake-sa…"

"Kakashi-sensei!"

"Hatake-sens…"

"Kakashi-sensei!"

"..Kakashi-sensei.. what is this?!"

The man smiled or at least Iruka suspected that he did, as the only visible eye crinkled and turned upwards.

"The mission report Iruka-sensei."

For a moment Iruka was floored that the jounin knew his name and occupation before guessing that Sasuke or Sakura might have told the jounin about him. Why though he didn't know and it didn't really matter. Scowling at the other shinobi, he placed the report on the table. Calmly he took a blank report sheet from the stack to his left and held it out to the silver haired man.

"The report is unacceptable. Please redo it properly without food stains, sketches or additional commentary, which doesn't pertain the mission."

The chuunin gave the stained paper a disdainful look before turning his attention back onto Hata.. Kakashi-sensei. Iruka noted that he wasn't smiling anymore and that his colleagues, who had gone pale as he ordered the redo of the report, were slowly inching away from the two of them. Now the jounin looked annoyed or what Iruka interpreted as annoyed. He couldn't really tell.

"It's only a D-rank."

The dark haired man repressed the urge to grind his teeth. What was it with those jounin and mission reports? Perhaps it was some kind of weird tradition, that every time a jounin took on his or her first genin, they got lazy with writing their reports?

"That is irrelevant. Ha.. Kakashi-sensei a report is a report, no matter what rank. So please, do it properly."

"And if I don't?"

Raising an eyebrow Iruka studied the jounin, yet again. He didn't like the tone the other man's voice had adopted, but ignored it for once. It had probably been a long time since Sharingan Kakashi had to file a report at all. Most S- and A-ranks were highly confidential and the details for the Hokage's eyes only, therefore the reports were done verbally and their leader wrote down the most important facts, before sealing the file and having it sorted.

"The official procession would entail that I report you for insubordination."

Ignoring the dark look in the lone eye he continued. Iruka was very much aware, that if he chose to report the shinobi, it would be ignored. The older man might get a slap on the wrist, but otherwise would be left alone while Iruka would be chastised for bothering the council with such trivialities. Though he doubted that the jounin-sensei knew this. Hatake Kakashi belonged to the best Konoha had to offer. Iruka knew it all too well and he knew how hard the Hokage had fought his team-mates as they refused to relieve him of his duty in ANBU, even as the man had showed signs of mental instability.

"Filling a report is part of your duty to this village and rejecting to write a report, regardless of the rank, is a refusal to do your duty. And therefore grounds for a report to the council."

"I wrote a report!"

Now there was anger in that dark voice, another thing he ignored completely. If there was one skill Iruka had, it was would be riling people up and he knew that the critics were something the jounin was apparently not accustomed to. Not that Iruka cared, he fulfilled his duty to the best of his abilities and could only do so, when the others complied.

"A _clean proper_ report, like the ones, I'm certain, you had to write for higher ranked mission. Please save us the hassle and just redo the report."

The wrong thing to say as the lone eye narrowed and the lean frame tensed. Iruka could just imagine the angry frown on the invisible mouth.

"You have your report! Duty done!!"

With that the silver haired man turned around left the room before anyone could stop him, leaving a flabbergasted chuunin and his colleagues behind. Incredulous Iruka stared after the jounin and the closed door before growling. No one, and with that he meant NO ONE challenged his authority in the mission room. One of his fellow chuunin had actually dived under the desk as he stood, which amused him more than anything else, though he took care to keep the murderous expression on his face.

"Ano.. Iruka-san?"

"What is it, Iharu-san?"

"What are you going to do, Iruka-san?"

"What do you mean?"

"Are you going to report him?"

"Of course…"

"Iruka-san..! With all due respect, Hatake-sama is one of our most skilled jounin. We cannot afford to have him on probation."

"Iharu-san, all shinobi have to follow the rules. That includes Kakashi-sensei as well as every other ninja of our village, even the Hokage and the council."

"And we all know, just how well you and the council get along."

The sarcasm was pronounced enough, that even a dumb person would have understood. And worried the other shinobi even more. Not to forget that it also made them question Iharu's sanity. Over the years they had all at one point witnessed Iruka's infamous temper, which equalled a dozen exploding tags. But never it had been directed at one of their own. Even though most of them didn't know what exactly had transpired between the Hokage's former team-mates and their youngest co-worker, but it wasn't really necessary. It was enough to know that it was best not to mention the two advisors in Iruka's presence.

To their surprise the brunet didn't combust from a reddening face, neither did he start yelling his head off, instead his grimace softened. Soon a rueful smile graced the tanned features. Scratching the scar on his nose the young man looked somewhat sheepish.

"I guess you are right Iharu-san. We really don't get along."

The smile faded again, as quickly as it had come. Lips now pulled in a firm line, the face a serious expression of utter professionalism, the voice deep and the tone one expected of a strict teacher.

"But that doesn't excuse Kakashi-sensei's behaviour. My disagreements with the council do not have any influence on my work."

There was a brief pause and it seemed that the chuunin-sensei searched for the correct words to express himself properly.

"But I agree with you…"

Perplexed by the sudden turnaround of Iruka's opinion the men could just stare at the brunet. Only Iharu, who had provoked the sensei in the first place, was somewhat coherent. His dark green eyes widened as he realized what exactly Iruka was about to do and suppressed a shudder with the ease of a shinobi, who had been on duty for more than a decade. The chuunin had to be insane! What did he hope to gain from forcing the hand… Tokou, a chuunin in his forties, asked another question and Iharu had to wonder, if the years of peace hadn't dulled the minds of his fellow chuunin.

"What do you mean Iruka-san..?"

"I agree with you, it would be bad for Konoha as well as Kakashi-sensei's new genin team. Therefore I won't report him…"

"Iru.."

"Which he doesn't need to know and his mission reports are still unacceptable."

Iruka gestured to the bad form, kanji scratched across the paper like a vulture's foot prints, still resting on the surface of Iruka's part of the desk.

"I will not tolerate it."

The brunet proceeded to gather more papers as the clock chimed, announcing the completion of the sixth hour. Just as he was about to enter the file storage once more he heard Iharu's voice.

"What are you planning then, Iruka-san?"

Without turning around he opened his mouth, knowing that his next words would stun his colleagues into silence. Pity, that he wouldn't be able to see their faces…. A real pity.

"The same I do with my misbehaving students Iharu-san. First a slap on the wrist and if he hasn't learned by then, he'll get a spanking. Have a nice day!"

With that he entered the room, leaving three stunned co-workers along with a stupefied audience behind. Luckily, none of them were able to see his face, otherwise they might have gotten an inkling as to how much Iruka enjoyed messing with their heads. The brunet just wanted to let go and laugh, while choking on air from the hilarity he felt at the moment.

Hatake Kakashi wouldn't know what hit him!!!

~~Training ground near the memorial stone~~

Only a few feet away from the memorial stone stood the silver haired jounin, masked nose firmly hidden in his Icha Icha novel. Without forewarning he sneezed. The book fell to the ground and was only saved due to quick reflexes. Looking up, Hatake Kakashi couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding. Something bad was about to happen!!

~~Konohagakure, Uchiha district, two weeks after Mizuki's betrayal~~

He loved the sound of breaking wood, especially when done by him. For it meant that he finished another training session and with that on his way to become stronger. Strong enough to kill him, to kill his only remaining relative: Uchiha Itachi.

Wiping the sweat of his brow, he glanced at the demolished wooden dummy. Sasuke frowned. It wasn't enough, it wasn't nearly enough, not by a long shot. During their trial he had fought against Kakashi-sensei and lost. Lost without the older one breaking a sweat, he was under no illusion concerning the man's skills, he had to have held back.

_Probably not even warmed up…._

Gritting his teeth the teen refused to trash the dummy completely. He had yet to close the gap between Itachi and himself. And that was regarding the fact that his ill begotten brother would grow stronger as well. Itachi had never been one for resting preferring to work on his skills instead. A kunai sailed through the air and stuck in the thin wooded stick, that represented the spine, splintering the already damaged dummy. He had to train harder and better, he had to erase the mistakes he still made, he had to… Hopefully without that annoying girl holding him back.

He had done a bit of research on the man that was now their sensei. And, considering that his access to files was severely restricted, he had sorted through the profiles his clan had complied and had found quite a bit of information on the lazy man. Information that he didn't believe, at first.

According to the acquired data his sensei was 25 years of age, despite the silver grey hair and had been a jounin for near 13 years. To this day he held the record of being the youngest chuunin in all known shinobi villages, having graduated from the academy at the age of five and six months later, after turning six, passed the chuunin exam. He had undertaken countless missions for the village, be it during his ANBU days or as a jounin.

In Konohagakure he belonged to the most respected shinobi. It was the most surprising revelation because in Sasuke's opinion he was a lazy perverted as well as tardy sadist.

Anyone, who enjoyed watching his students stumble through mud, was. But nevertheless, he was one of the best the whole shinobi world had to offer, a student of the Yondaime Hokage. So he should have the skills to help him close the gap between his ..brother and him. Well as soon as they would start real missions instead of the menial labour they had done so far. Weeding gardens, and walking dogs did nothing good for ninja training, not at all.

Unfortunately the decision, when he would finally learn something worthwhile, was not up to him but the lazy perverted man Sasuke called sensei. Until that day he had to be patient and bear that annoying pink haired girl. Well at least he had only one team mate, he didn't want to imagine what would have happened if the usuratonkachi had been placed on his team.

Suppressing a shudder, he collected the trashed dummy and carried the remains to the area where he usually practised ninjutsu.

The wood clattered to the ground and he regarded the broken dummy for a few seconds before turning around to watch the sinking sun. He had dwelled too long on his situation and now he wouldn't be able to practise ninjutsu. Tilting his head thoughtfully he left the training area. Besides he had already worked pretty hard today and not only his single training, but the menial task he had to do this afternoon. Never before he had thought that babysitting could be a strenuous activity, now he knew better.

Kami, he hated little kids.

Brushing the dust off his clothes, he stepped onto the main street that ran through the whole district. Silence greeted him, just like it had been the case for last three going on four years. The sudden emptiness he felt was like a kunai to his heart, a deep pain he thought he had gotten used to a long time ago, but never had. Behind his eyes he could still see his relatives mingling on the streets, in front of their shops, could hear his aunt's voice as she inquired about his training while sweeping the steps leading to the restaurant's entrance.

Closing his eyes, he forced himself to let go of the images he was seeing. It wasn't real, not anymore, all he remembered were ghosts of the past. A past he couldn't leave behind, something he could avenge no matter what. Tearing his gaze away from the shop, he nearly ran all the way to the house that had once been the home to a family of four. He would go insane one day, he knew.. but….

Repressing the images that threatened to rise to the forefront of his mind, he entered the two room apartment, where he now lived.. existed… he didn't know anymore. Tonight would be bad, but he didn't need the images haunting his days as well.

Time to make dinner.. for one!

_..so lonely…_  
…but it would be worth it, if he just killed his brother!!

~~the other side of Konoha, the civilian district~~

The sun had already set for hours as Iruka made his way home and he was beyond annoyed. Six chuunin alone hadn't been enough to vent the anger he felt and for once he felt regret. Not necessarily because he liked them or thought that they reports were flawless, no but because they weren't responsible for the anger, no that would be Mizuki!

Suppressing a dark growl at the thought of the pale haired traitor, the chuunin shook his head, trying desperately to dispel the dark mood. He found it still hard to relate the traitor with the boy from the past, with the family that had lived next to his apartment block. After his parents' death Sandaime had given him another apartment in another district and he had lost sight of his neighbour. Sometimes they still had spent time with each other, when both of them had the time. Mizuki had graduated far earlier than the brunet himself, being a good deal older.

But that was the past and the only concern Iruka had now, was the present and the time when Mizuki had become a traitor. When had he decided that working for someone else was more rewarding than serving as a loyal tool for the village. Had he still been a teenager or was it a more recent development. At least they could be sure that the older chuunin had never sold secrets of the village, having never gained enough clearance to know them, with the exception of Naruto's secret, but that wasn't really a secret if you ignored the younger generation of Konoha. Everyone else knew.

Mizuki had help, that was clear, but who? Who would be in a position to tattle and how would they have made contact? Being a teacher restricted the time that could be gone on missions.. how? It could, of course, been one of his friends, but Iruka found it unlikely. Not unlikely enough to disregard, but he would try to think outside of straight guidelines, this case demanded it.

Additional duties were funny… at least the academy was closed, though he dreaded the day, when it would be reopened. Additional duties and 20 something pre-genin on sugar were not what Iruka envisioned as fun. Besides the time, he spent with his loved ones would even be shorter than it was now. Sadly Naruto had yet to contact him.

_I hope you are not in trouble Naruto!_

With the final thought he reached his house, noticing that the lights were on. With a smile he opened the door and entered. The smell of a well cooked meal greeted him and while he pulled his sandals off he called out.

"Tadaima!"

"Okaeri nasai!"

His smile only widened as he saw the brunette poking her head through the doorway. Dark eyes sparkling with happiness and joyful smile greeted Iruka. The chuunin knew that his face was glowing with the warmth that pooled beneath his skin. How he hated the blushes!

But.. someone had truly blessed him.

Straightening he approached the young woman, who greeted him with open arms and a kiss. He melted into warmth and security the female offered. How he had missed this. Pulling the body closer, his hands slid over the slim back to comfortable hips. Bumping his nose against hers, he broke the kiss. The smile was still there, he could feel it against his chin. Tilting his head, he rested it against her soft dark hair. Only now, the tension finally left his body. The aroma of a freshly cooked meal assaulted his nose and he couldn't help but sigh in pleasure.

"Smells really good."

"I should think so, it's one of your favourites after all!"

An impish smile flitted over the scared face as the woman tried to free herself from his embrace, sensing that her lover was up to mischief. She had reacted too late, calloused fingertips dug into her sides, tickling her without mercy. A shriek tore from her throat and hands pressed against his shoulders. Though she wasn't trying too hard to get away, she didn't even want to.

Iruka stopped as he heard a dark growl, meeting the nearly black eyes he laughed before letting her go. Balancing he barely evaded a half-hearted swipe, raising his arms in a calming gesture.

"I think the food…"

"Don't even try to distract me, I already took the food off the stove…hey.. cheating!"

He hugged her again, burrowing his nose in the dark traces, breathing in the scent of earth and nature.

"So how about that terrifying smelling teriyaki?"

He could feel the laughter, as her shoulders shook. Stepping back she studied him briefly, before nodding. Taking his hand she led him into the small living room, where a low table had been placed next to Iruka's fish tank. Dishes and bowls had been set beforehand and all the chuunin had to do, was sit down.

"Sit down! I will bring the food."

Iruka couldn't help but shoot his girlfriend's back a questioning look. It was unlike her to do everything herself, normally she insisted that he helped. But now… his gaze slid lower and lower, coming finally to rest on that beautiful backside. As any capable ninja she, of course, sensed his stare and turned to face him, her eyes alight with amusement. Teasingly her lips formed a seductive smile.

"Like what you see?"

Iruka blushed, but didn't avert his eyes, instead preferring to meet her stare boldly. They held contact for a few seconds before she vanished into the kitchen. A few moments later however Iruka could hear the sound of clattering pottery. Then the woman he called his lover appeared again, now carrying a tablet with the prepared dishes. Iruka felt his mouth water as the smell intensified. Rising, he assisted her by placing the bowls with teriyaki and rice on the table, effectively serving them both.

Then he waited for her to sit, before he followed. With a quiet sound the chopsticks were broken apart and they both dug in. Iruka had been correct in his assumption, the meal was delicious. Licking his lips he served himself second helpings, while the other chuunin had yet to finish her first servings. As he lifted the cup, filled with cold sake to his face, he heard his girlfriend's voice.

"So I've heard that you're having your wicked way with Kakashi and his poor backside! Should I be worried?"

The academy promptly choked, the porcelain cup slipping from his fingers and nearly crashing onto his plate. That is, hadn't his instincts reacted immediately and dropped the chopsticks to catch the cup. Coughing he stared at the woman sitting calmly on the other end of the table, then the bewilderment left and embarrassment set in, he blushed. With a smooth motion he placed the cup onto the table, not one drop having been spattered and cleared his throat. The colour had thankfully left his face.

"Where did you hear that?"

An impish grin was playing over her rose coloured lips, as she answered. Iruka could also see amusement dancing in her dark eyes as she regard him. Clearly this was very entertaining for her. If anybody knew how wicked his beloved was, they would never believe him.

"I heard it from one of the jounin. Apparently you and Hatake had words in the mission office, which ended with you threatening to report him and something about BDSM sessions!"

The chuunin sensei was flabbergasted. He blinked once, he blinked twice before sputtering. The tanned face paled, a stark contrast to the reddish colour minutes ago. His brown eyes widened and the mouth open, before the lips formed a thin line and then he growled. But as suddenly as the growl came it was cut off, the chuunin's narrowed eyes were gone and he smiled.

"Say, who told you that?"

The brunette shuddered, she knew that smile. The innocent expression, which conveyed nothing but friendliness. She knew better though. Someone was going to suffer for spreading the rumour or better the deliberate misunderstanding his lover's words. Shinobi, by nature, were a curious bunch and there was nearly nothing they liked more than gossip. It brought on a challenge of spying on other comrades and trying to find the root of the rumour without being noticed. It made for good training, which was the reason most ninja tolerated it. Mostly it was all in good fun after all.

However Iruka was different, sometimes he reacted a bit funny when it concerned rumours, not that he had ever explained his behaviour. All she had gotten out of him were nothing more than two sentences, which supposedly explained everything.

_"I can't afford any rumours about myself. I don't like to draw attention."_

She knew that Iruka had told her the complete truth in those short sentences and yet he had left everything out. It wasn't nearly enough to satisfy her own curiosity, she was after all a shinobi as well. Not that he would tell her. If she left the matter run its own way, then the female would undoubtedly never know. Maybe he would tell her eventually, but she wouldn't count on it. Iruka was her future mate and soon it would be official, of that she was sure. And about him she wanted to know everything. Only then she remembered that she still owed Iruka an answer.

"Hmm, I don't know him personally. He came with a patient and I was more interested in it and the ailments than him. Was from one of the clans I believe, if you want I will look his name up tomorrow. I have it in the files."

Iruka shook his head, the smile only widening. Yes, someone was definitely going to suffer. But until Iruka had sorted the mess out, she could tease him for all it was worth.

"Alright, but you never answered my question. Do I have to worry?"

The mischievous look vanished abruptly. Instead she was regarded with a seriousness that Iruka normally only applied to missions, she knew. He shook his head before sitting next to her; her hand, calloused like his, held in a strong grip.

"Let's see.. a seemingly lazy jounin, who reads porn in public and associates with more dead than living people against you, a beautiful woman, who puts up with me and accepts me like I am."

He leaned forward until their faces nearly touched. A bright blush creeping up his face.

"I don't think that there is any competition for you at all."

It was her that closed the distance between them, her slim strong fingers sliding over the broad shoulders as Iruka pulled her closer. He could feel the smile against his mouth. Only as he needed air, did he pull back.

"Dishes tomorrow?"

"Best idea I heard so far!"

The brunet rose, pulling her along. Smiling he led her to the bedroom, the anger over the rumour and Hatake Kakashi momentarily forgotten.

~~~unknown location, a building~~~

"How is the search going? Have they all been located?"

"Not yet, while not all of them are sealed, most are and that makes it difficult to pin them down. If they do not use their chakra, then.."

"..then you only follow rumours…, correct?"

"We have found most of them already, but one of the located jinchuuriki. The Kyuubi is missing as well."

A glare demanded a more detailed explanation.

"The nine tails, which has been kept in Konoha after the sealing, is gone. My spy failed to locate him so far."

"He left? Have our intentions been discovered, has the Hokage brought him to safety?"

"Negative, Konoha doesn't know of us. While not able to access the personal file, our spy was able to view other lists. The jinchuuriki is neither listed as missing, a missing nin or a genin on a mission, in fact he isn't listed as a genin at all. The spies only noted the absence because of the lack of.. pranks it is infamous for. As for the Hokage? If he is aware of the absence he has made no move to locate it, maybe he will do so in the future."

"So we have the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, missing and probably wandering through the world and we don't know where he is?"

"Yes.."

"Find him, we need to know where he is. If Konoha is stupid enough to let him walk away, we'll find him before they notice his absence. Recall Itachi and Kisame. The capture of the others will be delayed."

"As you command."

"Dismissed."

With one last glance at the masked one, the man called Pain left silently. His footsteps never making a sound as he climbed over broken debris and scattered remains. At the end of the stairs was Konan. Her hands folded in front of her, she waited for him. He already spoke before she could ask.

"Send a message to Itachi and Kisame. Call them back, I have new orders for them."

For once he didn't wait for his partner and long-time companion, there was too much to think about. The changes unsettled him. The Kyuubi child wasn't supposed to have left the village. Nothing in their previous investigation had indicated that the boy had ties outside of his village. So why had he left. Was the leaving connected to the fact, that the boy wasn't listed as a genin? He needed to know what has transpired in Konoha since their last check.

"We will meet with Zetsu, I have a new task for him as well."

"Hai."

Watching as the female left, he glanced out of the window. With a sense as close as he would come to content, he waited for the rain to intensify. Soon their goals would be realised and nothing would stand in their way.

~~Konohagakure no Sato, Hokage's Tower~~

"So Iruka, how is your research doing? Did you find anything out about Mizuki from the other sensei at the academy?"

The brunet shook his head, trying desperately not to flinch at the disappointment that flitted over the aged face, but as quickly as it had come it was gone again. Then he assumed a formal stance to report, unofficial mission or not, the Hokage was still treated with respect.

"What have you found then?"

"I questioned my colleagues. According to them Mizuki had a fiancée named Otada Tsubaki, a fellow chuunin. The fact consists with my knowledge, Mizuki celebrated their engagement with us last year. Otada has yet to return from a long-term mission. She was to be home by the time of their wedding date, set three months from now. Mizuki requested over three months off for both of them to go on their honeymoon near the northern coast of Hi no Kuni."

"What about Mizuki's communication with his fiancée?"

"Otada-san has been on the long-term mission in Kumo for nearly six months now. As far as our information goes, their correspondence ceased the day she left."

"What of her state of mind and her loyalty?"

"I requested the last examinations from her medic. Her psychological evaluations show no signs of disloyalty. A good sign, but it might not mean anything."

"Correct, after all we never questioned Mizuki's alliance either."

Iruka only nodded, the Hokage had made a valid point. Clutching the folders to his chest, he considered Mizuki's betrayal for the sixth, tenth, hundredth's time and realized something. It still hurt, he hurt because one of his colleagues had decided to betray the village. As children they had been friends and then colleagues as adults and now? Now, they were enemies and Iruka knew that if they would meet again, he would kill the older man. No questions asked..

But before that they needed information, before the traitor died.. not died but was sentenced, they needed to know everything. How long had he upheld that carefully constructed lie, the façade that fooled them all. When had he acquired the menacing nature, or had it always been there?

Had there been signs and nobody had seen them? He had been blind to them, regardless of working next to the man every day. Now the signs seemed obvious, screaming at him and every other person involved in the investigation. It made Iruka wonder why they had been so blind? Foolish self-confidence, that Konoha was free of traitors after Orochimaru had taken off or ignorance? He couldn't decide. But fact was, that most had dismissed Mizuki's obvious problems. So what, Mizuki had anger management problems, how bad could that be? He was calm and collected during work, didn't go on missions and his students learned from him. All in all it was probably just the stress of teaching so many children.

_Yeah, right? We were fools, ignorant fools.._

Only as the old shinobi started to speak again, did Iruka pull himself from his internal discussion concerning Mizuki. His brown eyes followed the wisps of smoke somewhat hypnotically as he listened.

"One of our ANBU has been dispatched to shadow her during the mission. If she's involved she will most likely panic and abandon her mission as soon as she realizes that he isn't showing up at the right time."

"And if she doesn't abandon her post?"

"Then it is a point in her favour. As for you, I want you to continue your investigation. Bring me anything you find on his activities, regardless how trivial it seems."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

The dark haired chuunin bowed once more before handing the personal file of Utada Tsubaki over. With a farewell and another bow he left the tower. His work was done for today, but he still had matters to take care of, Hatake Kakashi's abysmal handwriting, which wasn't abysmal at all if the jounin didn't chose it to be, for example. For a chuunin like Iruka it took no effort at all to view older mission reports. It certainly paid to have a high lever clearance and normally he would never abuse his rights for something so trivial, but Hatake Kakashi had raised his ire and he was going to pay for it.

Revenge had been the reason Iruka had looked into the mission files in the first place. And what he had seen had caused him to spent an extra hour on his favourite training ground, trying out various new combinations of kicks and punches. The mission reports written by Hatake Kakashi, starting at age six, had proved without a doubt that the silver haired man was quite capable of writing neat reports. Why he had stopped the chuunin couldn't fathom, but for now he would keep quiet about it. Of course, that didn't mean that the jounin wouldn't regret messing with Umino Iruka, because he would.

Which was the reason he was currently jumping from branch to branch in order to reach training ground 32 near the outskirts of the village. He knew that Maito Gai was currently training his team there. Part of the "operation Hatake Kakashi" was about to start. The jounin would regret the day he tried to cross him.

Making sure that his face was devoid of any expression that could give his intentions away he entered the training ground, but stayed in the shadows the trees offered him. Calmly he observed his former students as they moved through their exercises. Silently the brunet marvelled at the progress he could see in all of them. Neji had always been very good at taijutsu but now he was even better. The influence of his sensei had smoothed out the knacks, which a Hyuuga had overlooked.

Tenten, who had already favoured weapons during her academy days, now almost relied exclusively on them. Her talent in using them was a gift, as Iruka viewed the reliance as a weakness, because opponents like Hyuuga Neji and even Rock Lee would run circles around her. With the genkei kekkei making it next to impossible for her to hit her team-mate or when the speed, Lee had to have gained, left her in the dust. She might have chances against katon and suiton user but fuuton masters would trounce her without her standing a chance. Yet it was not his place to question her choices. He could only hope that she would adapt her fighting style, it was now in her sensei's hands.

The chuunin suppressed a flinch at the image, he always had trouble letting his students go. Pushing the depressing thoughts away, he entered the training grounds. Lee, in the process of doing sit-ups, merely gave him a exuberant grin, never stopping his motions. Tenten on the other hand, set the kunai down and greeting with cheerful waving.

And Neji, in the process of doing a complex looking kata, held briefly eye contact before focusing once more on his moves. And finally he saw the reason for coming to the grounds in the first place: Maito Gai! The jounin greeted him in his usual carefree manner. Combined with the way he dressed, Iruka was still freaked out. No matter how often he saw it.

"Greetings Iruka-sensei, what brings you here on this wonderful day? Nothing wrong with the report I hope."

"Ohayo, and no Gai-sensei, the report was perfect as always. Makes me wish, that all jounin would give me such perfect forms. But no, I wanted to speak with your team."

"My forms, perfect?"

"Of course, otherwise I wouldn't say it. When I compare them to the forms of the other new jounin-sensei, they are nearly flawless. Yesterday I had to deal with Hatake-san's .. his kanji.."

Iruka's voice trailed off, leaving enough time for the other brunet to get the implications. As he had hoped, the jounin pounced on it.

"My eternal rival, don't worry you will get used to his hip attitude."

The chuunin just stared at the green Beast of Konoha, he had trouble comprehending that someone would call the lazy behaviour 'hip'. Perhaps the understanding was a privilege that came with jounin rank and the accompanied loss of sanity.

"Nevertheless, I still prefer your reports. They are far more legible than his. May I have a few minutes with your team? It concerns the date for the visit of the new classes."

"What a youthful idea! Of course Iruka-sensei, jut wait until Neji has finished his kata."

The dark haired chuunin nodded distractedly, continuing to study his former students. Their progress was really really marvellous. He told Gai so, foolishly not expecting the teary reaction he got. Settling for smiling awkwardly, he patted the man's shoulder as the jounin sobbed noisily. The fact that none of his students appeared to be ruffled by the display, told the sensei that this reaction was apparently quite a common occurrence. He didn't know whether to respect the three or be scared for their sanity.

Only after the emotional man had calmed down, was Iruka able to speak with the three genin. Finalizing the detail took longer than expected, but after finishing, the younger man turned to leave. Only to be stopped by Konoha's Green Beast.

"Iruka-san.."

The brunet frowned and his brows furrowed, he had rarely heard such a serious tone from the jounin. Keeping quiet, he waited for the older man to continue, while wondering what could have caused such seriousness.

"Iruka-san, I heard something yesterday and I was hoping that maybe you would shed some light onto the issue."

Suppressing a wince was all he could do, as he listened to the dark timbre of Gai's voice, blushing instead. But this time it was a controlled blush as deliberate as most of them were. Offering the older jounin a veiled calculated look, he weighed his options on how much to tell Gai. In the end he decided against the whole truth. Despite their friendly relationship, he knew that the taijutsu master wouldn't take kindly to being manipulated. Especially not, when it concerned the shinobi he called "eternal rival". So the sensei resolved to simply withhold information.

"That depends on what you have heard, Gai-sensei."

"I have heard rumours of yourself and my hip eternal rival, they speak of how you reached a very youthful relationship. But Iruka-san I must tell you, my rival's heart is hard to win so if you break his, I fear you will answer to me…"

During the few sentences Iruka's eyes had widened.

_SHIT!_

The rumours either had mutated far more than Iruka had anticipated or Gai was just being very dense. How had that happened? Only as he noticed that the spandex clad man was awaiting his answer the chuunin tried to answer, while blushing. This time the blush was very much unwanted.

"Gai-sensei, you must be mistaken: Kakashi-sensei and I are not.. da.. together in any shape or form."

Focusing his voice to be calm, lest giving the man a wrong conclusion, the chuunin attempted to explain the rumours. He really should have expected to fail and have his words fall on deaf ears. Stupid jounin!

"Say no more Iruka-sensei. I find it admirable that you intend to protect both yourselves. Fear not, my lips are sealed. And if it slips I shall run 500 laps around Konoha on my hands, while carrying a 1000 pounds."

It had to be a jounin thing, Iruka decided. Once you were promoted, your mind just snapped and sanity was thrown out of the nearest window. Not to forget that the jounin tended to be eccentric in some sense, be it wearing green spandex and orange leg warmers or reading porn in public. Left speechless, Iruka wondered briefly how often Maito Gai had been dropped on his head as a child as the man spoke again.

"You said my penmanship was good…"

A bit dazed from the sudden changes of subjects, the teacher merely nodded wordlessly, once more trying to explain that the jounin-sensei got it all wrong only to be interrupted again.

"Yosh, then I will challenge my eternal rival right now.."

Where the jounin had hidden the scroll, which apparently contained calligraphy utensils, Iruka would rather not know. But he had a good idea what the older man intended to do with them. It took surprisingly little effort to keep his face free of that smug smile that wanted to make itself known. Hopefully the rumours concerning the rivalry of Gai and Kakashi were mostly accurate.

Silently he watched as the man guided his students through a sequence of moves designed to cool down and keep the muscles from cramping. After making sure that his students got it right, an overbearing action if Neji's rolled eyes were to believed, he rushed off. Iruka was left with team 9.

"Does that happen often?"

"No, sensei usually challenges Kakashi-san only after they both survived a strenuous mission."

Tenten, who had answered, smiled slightly. The fondness for her teacher creeping into her voice. He mirrored her smile, if only for the emotions she showed. Despite being a calm collected young woman, Tenten could explode in a flurry of fury and temper, just like Iruka himself. The chuunin appreciated the parents a lot more, when the weren't as strict with the shinobi code as some were. Fortunately Tenten's family belonged to the one's whose ideals were closer to Iruka's own, than the code the sensei was forced to teach at the academy. The strict image some of the families had, concerning the attributes a shinobi or a kunoichi should have, didn't agree with the chuunin at all.

Looking at Neji and his calm nearly emotionless face, Iruka wanted to scream and rage with the head of the Hyuuga clan taking the brunt of his anger. In some ways the brunet was worse off than even Sasuke. The last Uchiha had lost his family, but was left with the knowledge that they loved him. Neji had not only lost his father in order to save the head of the clan, he had to live next to blood relatives, who thought him to be less worthy than themselves.

And all that because of some stupid tradition. The chuunin hated tradition, the ones of the Hyuuga only few among many, even though there was nothing he could do about it. All he could do was trying to show Neji, that hate wasn't the only emotion he was allowed to feel. He had gotten mixed results, while the student had kept his emotions, he had only shown the negative ones. The disdain he held for his other team-mates was palpable. It was a mistake made at the academy, which the sensei responsible for the class had neglected to correct. Probably too afraid of the repercussions from the head of the Hyuuga clan.

His team-mates paid for it now, for the fear of their former sensei. At least that was what Iruka believed, having never taught more than a few lessons as substitute. Their progress and teamwork could only attest to Gai's good teachings and the stubbornness of Tenten and Lee. He hoped that one day they would break through that barrier of hate Neji had erected and tried to encourage them every chance he got.

"Well, that's all I wanted. I will see you then on the 25th."

"Bye Iruka-sensei!!"

With one last wave the brunet left the team to themselves. He still had some plotting to do.

~~~Kaze no Kuni, Sabaku~~~

Hiroto had barely time to blink as he saw the tiny fanged grin, that flitted over the youthful face before everything exploded in a white shower of heat, sounds and pain. Agony raced along his body and he didn't notice that he was writhing on the ground, trying to suffocate the chakra induced flames that burned his skin. Fingers, with skin molten and bare flesh, tired desperately to form seals, to no avail.

Had the jounin been free of pain, he would have heard similar cries coming from his comrades. But he felt only his hurt, the agony spreading through his limbs. Every motion resulting in new waves of searing fire, he forced himself to remember his teachings, to concentrate on one thing, to just breathe. With every wisp of air that passed his singed cracked lips, he felt the agony lessen, his concentration and rational thinking returning. Then there was only darkness.

The void had been so comfortable but soon he was roused. The soothing cooling feeling of healing chakra danced over his body, beckoning his mind to wake. Mobilizing what must have been his remaining energy he cracked a bloodshot eye open. Skin tore, having previously been melted together, causing new discomfort with blood trickling over numb skin. At first he could only make out blurs, blurs that moved above him.

Ignoring the metallic tang that filled his mouth, he parted his lips to speak only to sputter. Liquid trailed over his chin and ran down his neck. Which meant that the nerves were not totally damaged, he still could feel.

…_who's there.. what happened?... the girl.. the.. she ..sh.. she's responsible for this.. How? ..how ..did…._

"Stay calm Hiroto, you are starting to hyperventilate… be calm. I will be done in a few minutes."

_Kunihiro_…

"Wha.."

"Don't speak, you were lucky as it is. The distance saved your life. The burns are quite severe but you are alive. Now, hold it. This will hurt, part of your uniform has melted into your skin.. I will cut it out. Brace yourself!"

He had barely time to compose himself before cold metal was skimming along his body, separating fabric from flesh. Screams of pain filled the air as his spine arched, lungs trying desperately to breathe. Then it was over, his body gave out and laid on the ground, with parched lips parted, panting for air.

"There, the worst is over, the rest will be less painful."

"Wha.. how…?"

"Some kind of clone jutsu I suspect, the bitch wasn't real and exploded into our faces. No idea how she did it or where she is. Turned out the horses were henged clones as well.. nearly decimated us completely.. that shrew has to have chakra reserves…"

"Others?"

"Here drink this… Akito and Takuto were lucky, stood a few feet away like you.. the others.. not much left of them."

Hiroto closed his eye as Kunihiro trailed off. It wasn't necessary to speak further, he could imagine the rest quite well on his own. His team-mates had died due to their own carelessness. None of them had thought the girl to be a threat and that after she had killed a complete team of chuunin without being injured. But how could they have known that she wasn't real, no injury had touched her?

"Other clones?"

"Kenmaru took care of them. He was securing the perimeter as that thing exploded. Without him the remaining ones would have gotten us, I suspect."

"The real one…?"

"No idea, probably escaped or was a safe distance away to begin with. All opponents so far were copies of her. I think she merely wanted us to be distracted or she somehow knew we were going to attack and it was a trap."

"A bloody good trap I would say."

"Kenmaru…?"

"No worries Hiroto, I am unharmed."

"You think it was a trap?"

"Of course, look at us, we lost two thirds of our men. None of the enemies were real and the Hime was never here at all. She knew we were coming and prepared accordingly."

"Do we have an inkling to which village she belongs?"

Hiroto couldn't help but feel a grudging respect for the girl, it made sense what Kenmaru said. He hated it even more that both his comrades mirrored the respect in their voices. The plan had been flawless he had to admit. The oasis littered with lethal traps. Some of them doing a very good job, crippling and killing his team-mates in seconds, while the hidden clones scattered throughout the area had done the rest after the bait had exploded.

"I didn't saw a hitai-ate on any of them. Perhaps one of Konoha! The bitch matches colour with that bastard."

"I don't think so Kunihiro, remember the Hime represents the Kazekage and that one loathes Konoha as much as we do. Their own daimyo after all hands all the missions to them instead of his own village. No I'm pretty sure she is not of Konoha."

"A freelancer then or a missing-nin."

"Possible, but it's pointless to speculate now."

Hiroto agreed, he doubted he could keep his eyes open for a longer amount of time. They couldn't follow her anyway, not now. No, first rest was much needed and then regrouping and a new plan of action. Clearly they had made mistakes, lives had been lost because of it and she would pay for them with her own blood. He would see to it! No one messed with the "Shinigami no Iwa"!

But for now he could do nothing but wait and heal. Kunihiro would see to it. He would be able to move come morning. The brunet was already pulling another jar from one of his numerous pockets, the Iwa shinobi identified it as a burn salve. Moments later calloused fingers spread the crème over his burnt face and skin, the coolness numbing the pain, and fabric wrapped around his wounds.

"Now no moving Hiroto! 20% of your body has been burned!"

"Recovery?"

"A few scars will be left but your abilities shouldn't be impaired. And now rest! Tomorrow we have much to achieve."

So he did, knowing that the sedatives would only work for so long. Through half-lidded eyes the dark haired man watched as the medic finished bandaging the damaged hand, which he had used to shield himself. Kunihiro didn't appear to sport any injuries save for a dark bruise alongside his jaw and neck. The medic's dark green eyes were currently focused on Kenmaru.

"I will get blankets to built a shelter. Dawn's not far away and we wont be leaving during the next hours…."

But Hiroto didn't even hear him anymore, eyes firmly closed he was already out like a light. He never noticed as his body was transferred onto a small bedroll, neither felt he Kunihiro reapply the burn salve few hours later.

The medic spent few minutes further conversing with Kenmaru before he sacked onto a bedroll himself. The swordsman would construct a few shelter for the remains of their quite decimated team before taking first watch and Kunihiro was glad he did. His chakra stores were almost completely diminished and he would need rest for the remaining mission, if he wanted to be of use.

With the death of their captain Aoshi, it was now up to Kenmaru to lead them and their mission to success. He didn't envy him, it would be tough to accomplish it now. He hadn't want to tell Hiroto, but the infamous shinobi had been closer to death than he probably wanted to believe. But now the jounin was sleeping peacefully, already on his path of healing. The brunet wouldn't wake for at least eight hours and the body would need the time to rest and restock the chakra reserves. And now with all team-mates save for Kenmaru asleep he could rest himself.

Quickly his fingers flew through a short sequence of handseals. Moments later the earth around him moved and four slim pillars of hard rock shot from the ground. Touching them briefly he was satisfied with their strength, they would do. Using a spare blanket he tied the edges to the stones, thus creating a shelter to escape the sun, when dawn came. His eyes slid briefly over the remains of the girl's camp, one of her copies had set it on fire during the explosion, destroying the tents and any protections available.

So they would have to make due with what the oasis offered them as well as their skills. Sadly he wasn't the only suffering from chakra exhaustion, Kenmaru was just as drained and therefore they couldn't create a bunker to rest in. Drowsily he watched as their new leader erected similar shelter and covers over their team-mates before his exhaustion caught up with him and he slept. Kenmaru noticed as their remaining medic finally succumbed to sleep. Covered in a dark blanket under the small cover the man looked much younger than he actually was, the face free of worry and anticipation. The bruise though, stood out against his pale skin, which under the moonlight appeared to be transparent.

At least he lived, the others hadn't been as lucky. The blond sneered hatefully at the thought of his dead team-mates. In years they hadn't had such a disastrous mission, in a matter of minutes they had lost eight, eight jounin and all due to their own carelessness.

Shaking his head he glanced once more at the sleeping men, tomorrow they would be more careful, tomorrow that damn bitch would pay for what she had done. He couldn't wait to crush her fragile face with bare hands, the fear that her blue eyes would contain, the knowledge that this was her end. Licking his lips, he sighed in anticipation. The next sunset couldn't come fast enough, he would look forward to their next encounter. Even on horse, their group needed just as much rest and as long as they rested in the desert they were their prey.

But first he needed to take care of the dead and then resting and then the hunt was open and this time there would be no mistakes. So far he had never let any prey escape.

Yes, tomorrow would be a glorious day!

tbc.....

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